Denim major Lee Cooper is all set to expand its business in India. Besides opening more exclusive stores, Indus Clothing Ltd, the licensee for India, has chalked plans to get into the inner wear and eye wear segment. Both these new ventures would carry the Lee Cooper brand.
"Our aim is to give the young customers a whole bouquet of products. Inner wear and eye wear are part of this package," says Harpartap Singh, director, Indus Clothing. While the eye wear will be sourced from China, the inner wear will be manufactured in Israel and Greece.
A few years back Lee Cooper launched belts, caps and bags. Talks have been finalised with a watch manufacturer and Lee Cooper watches will be test marketed in a couple of months time.
According to Singh, Lee Cooper is banking on its inner wear sales to boost the brand. "We will have a comprehensive collection that will be functional as well as be a style statement. With low-slung jeans in fashion, inner wear is in focus."
Besides knickers and thongs, the range will also include tank tops, shorts, sports bras and gym wear. "Most of these will be cotton blends with lycra and polyester," he adds.
Besides increasing its brand portfolio, Lee Cooper also plans to up its exclusive retail outlets. At present, besides multi-brand outlets, there are six exclusive stores. Plans have been drawn to open 10 more stores by March, 2005.
"We are targeting at opening a store a month. Our presence will soon be felt in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. While the cities will have franchisees, in smaller towns we will own the stores," says Singh. A sum of Rs 4 crore (Rs 40 million) has been earmarked for the expansion.
The company also has plans to set up a manufacturing unit in Selaqui, Uttaranchal. It's two existing units are in Gurgaon and Okhla (Delhi). "We're investing around Rs 2 crore ((Rs 20 million) in the plant and it should be operational by March next year," adds Singh.
He agrees that all these measures are to keep ahead of the competition. According to him the market for the international branded jeans in India is around Rs 500 crore (Rs 5,000 million). Besides Lee Cooper, brands such as Levi's, Lee and Pepe are present in the market. Lee Cooper has around 20 per cent of the market share.
"There is a lot of jostling for consumer attention. Our future plans are to establish our brand as a truly international player with quality products. We plan to bring out newer products and also go in for more bullish media campaign," says Singh.
The company spends around 10 per cent of its turnover on campaigns. Future media plans include outdoor campaigns such as hoardings, co-promotions and co-brandings. "Though we haven't decided on partners, we want a company with an image that is hip and cool," explains Singh.
Last year Indus Clothing did business worth Rs 43 crore (Rs 430 million). The company hopes to grow at an annual rate of 15 per cent.
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