• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Nath Balakrishnan

GOVIND Mirchandani is quite a personality. The fact that he took over as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Personality Ltd, a part of Gokaldas Images — one of the country's largest garment exporters — is but a mere coincidence. After having been associated with Arvind Mills for about 15 years, the last 10 years of which saw him launch no less than eight successful brands (Arrow, Wrangler, Lee, Excalibur and Ruggers, among others), Mr Mirchandani moved to his current assignment at Weekender last July.

When Business Line caught up with him at his Bangalore office, Mr Mirchandani was dressed in a spotless white, double-cuffed shirt (an Arrow). "For formal wear, there is no other brand better than it. I nurtured it with tender, loving care and I love it," says Mr Mirchandani, with discernible pride. Ask him how he has managed the transition from a company that has marquee brands in its fold to one that is smaller in size and operates in a niche, he says, "At Arvind, I had to create all the brands from scratch. At least here, I have a Rs 50-crore base to start off with."

Weekender derives about half its Rs 50-crore revenue from children's wear targeted at the 2-12 age group.

The rest comes in from the casual wear brand "Weekender", which is targeted at the 15-21 age group. Mr. Mirchandani puts the kids wear market to be about Rs 500-crore, the organised players with a national presence accounting for Rs 100 crore. Weekender has aggressive plans to tap this segment of the market.

For a starter, the company has tied up with Walt Disney and Warner Bros to use some of the legendary characters from their stable such as Tom and Jerry, and Mickey and Minnie Mouse for a line of kids wear called "Toon World".

Says Mr Mirchandani, "After all, they are some of the most recognisable characters among children." This range of clothing is in addition to the brand that the company already has in its portfolio called "Weekender Kids."

The other area where Weekender is getting its act together is in beefing up its retail presence. Apart from being available in about 45 exclusive outlets, the brands would also be present in about 150 multi-brand outlets and large retail chains such as Shoppers Stop, Ebony, Lifestyle and Kemp Fort. "Distribution strength is of vital importance in a country as large as ours," points out Mr Mirchandani.

Mr Mirchandani is also upbeat about the prospects of the casual wear targeted at teenagers. He says that most brands targeting the teenager are in the business of jeans. And that is where Weekender, with its non-denim play, sees an opportunity.

Does this mean that Weekender would not venture into denim?

Says Mr Mirchandani, "We are in the casual wear business and we understand that denim is also a part of casual wear. We may not have a brand today to compete directly with the offerings of other denim players. But in the future, we would looking at either having our own brand, or bring in brands from abroad to address that market."

Weekender also proposes to bring in brands from abroad, for which it has initiated talks with a few companies. "We are looking at expanding our portfolio by bringing in foreign brands either through a tie-up or a licensing arrangement," he says.

The growth of organised retail chains has played a pivotal role in widening the reach of branded readymades.

According to Mr Mirchandani, the availability of multiple brands in a retail giant such as Wal-Mart, should they decide to enter India, would be a function of how they position themselves in the country.

"If they position themselves as a deep-discount store in India and focus solely on driving prices down, we may not be keen on being available there. On the contrary, if they see an opportunity in the Indian market by positioning themselves in the same mould as, say, Shoppers Stop, we would definitely look at being present there," says Mr Mirchandani.

Though a consolidation is happening in the readymades market, Mr Mirchandani firmly believes in building brands rather than buying them out.

"We are a Rs 50-crore brand now and expect to end fiscal 2003 being worth Rs 75 crore. We have the potential to be an Rs 300-crore brand and that is my mandate here. We intend to get there by focussing on our own brands as well as those we bring in from abroad," affirms Mr Mirchandani.

To achieve the numbers being talked about may be a tall order, one might think. Though Mr Mirchandani oversees the fortunes of a company that has a strong presence in the kids wear market, it would be appropriate to say that when he talks about his company's future plans he surely is not kidding.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
Skol Breweries: Accept

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line