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Bangalore, Aug. 21 The Bangalore-based Primus Retail is planning to beef up Weekender, which it had brought from garment exporter Gokaldas Images.

Primus plans to open 100 Weekender outlets in the next 18 months. Now there are 50 Weekender outlets across 25 cities. Mr V. Balaji Bhat, CEO and Managing Director, Primus Retail, said: “Weekender is strong in kidswear, which was missing in our product portfolio. Kidswear is a Rs 10,000-crore market in the country. Organised retail is only Rs 200 crore and there are only limited players in it. This market has a huge opportunity.” Weekender is a licensee of Disney and Warner Brothers.

The company is planning to renovate Weekender stores and beef up its distribution. “We intend to grow the Weekender brand, which is worth about Rs 45 crore now. We hope the brand will grow 40-50 per cent year-on-year for three years.”

Primus is the master franchisee for Levi’s, Dockers, Signature and Adidas. Apart from retailing these four brands, its factory outlets also sell Reebok and Nike products. Primus is also the licensee for MTV Gear – a range of apparel and accessories.

Primus Retail, part of garment exporter K. Mohan and CO, runs 100 factory outlets and 50 exclusive brand outlets across 60 cities in the country. It has 70 shop-in-shops across department stores such as Shoppers’ Stop, Central and Brand Factory. Primus also sells MTV gear and Adidas accessories to around 3,000 mom and pop stores across 200 cities. It now hopes to sell Weekender products in its factory outlets and around 500 mom and pop stores.

As part of its overall retail expansion plan, Primus hopes to invest Rs 100 crore over three years (about Rs 25 crore will be invested in Weekender alone).

The target is to reach 600 stores in three years from 200 stores , said Mr Bhat. “We are also in talks with some international brands for licensee and franchisee arrangements.”

More Stories on : Brands | Retailing | Readymade Garments

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