Innerwear brand Crusoe to expand product range

Jagannath Textiles is envisioning to make it’s innerwear brand, Crusoe, “a household brand, one that consumers will recall and seek,” said Director Abhishek R Tibrewal.

Sharing his thoughts almost seven years after the formal launch of the brand, Tibrewal told BusinessLine that the company’s focus is now on brand building and strengthening its presence across the country.

“The opportunity in the domestic market is huge. We will like to establish the brand here before venturing overseas. In fact, we will soon be a complete family brand,” he added

The Coimbatore-based company formally launched Crusoe in 2010, as a premium category product.

It forayed into women’s active, leisure and casual wear just over a year ago.

“We will be launching a lingerie range this year, and by summer of 2018, enter kids wear and teens range of products to offer a complete family brand,” Abhishek said

To strengthen the brand’s presence, the company plans to have 100 exclusive Crusoe outlets across the country by 2020, adding 93 to its current network and strengthening its distributor network, as well.

Abhishek said 95 per cent of the sales is now through distributors, numbering 88.

“We have a strong presence in Tamil Nadu (home State), Kerala and the North-Eastern region. We entered the Central and Northern regions in 2015-16,” he added.

Responding to a query on the market, he said: “The opening months of the current fiscal seemed good, but things started to slacken from the first week of June. We are hoping that normalcy would return by August.”

The first quarter is very crucial for those who deal with innerwear products because with the start of summer, the demand for such clothing is high, setting the trend for the subsequent three quarters.

“We did extremely well in April and May — almost 70 per cent more than the corresponding months of the previous year. But since June, it has almost come to a standstill. Consumer spend is tilted more towards white goods due to the fear of a hike in the price levels under the GST regime.

“We expect a re-start in the economic activity from August. Further, the spend on innerwear can only be postponed; it cannot be withheld indefinitely.”

On turnover, he said: “We are targeting ₹50 crore (from the sale of Crusoe range of products) this fiscal, against ₹35 crore last year. The growth has been steady.”