Wednesday

27


July , 2016
ROYAL CLASSIC GROUP TARGETS THE GROWING MARKET OF YOUNG ADULTS
00:00 am

Usha Periyasamy


The Royal Classic Group is a name to reckon with in the Indian menswear segment. The company has recently launched the CP Bro Autumn-Winter 2016 collection. With a huge presence in southern India, it has now chosen eastern India as its next target region. T-shirt market of India that includes knit shirts, polos, knit tops etc. was estimated to be `13,830 crore in 2014. This market is expected to grow at an impressive compound annual growth rate of 13% to reach ` 24,940 crore in 2019. This market remains dominated by the men’s segment that contributes 83% of the total market. The woven shirts market is 2.5 times of the t-shirts market. Owing to the higher growth of t-shirts demand, it is expected that the woven shirts market to t-shirts market ratio will reduce to 2.1 in the next five years from its present value of 2.5 providing great opportunities to t-shirt manufacturing brands.

The Director – Brands and Operations of the Royal Classic Group, Usha Periyasamy, was in Kolkata for the launch of CP BRO collection. BE’s Saptarshi Deb spoke to her regarding the group and future prospects.

Q. What does your brand stand for?

A. Classic Polo stands for matured casual fashion. Our brand’s USP brand has been its consistent quality and innovation for the past 16 years.

Q. What is the product range that you are highlighting this year?

A. We are highlighting signature styles in t-shirts and milange and linen shirts. We are also focusing on jog denims and washed trousers with stretch advantage. Apart from these we are also updating our regular trends and styles.

Q. Tell us about your new range CP Bro?

A. CP Bro is targeted for the youth below 27. It is these sections who are the early adopters and trend setters, the ones who are ready to experi-ment with fashion. This range consists of tees, trousers, denims, shirts, loungewear and inner-wear. Every piece of BRO has some innovation keeping in mind the taste and the fashion pulse of the youth. We have kept the price bracket of this range from `399 to ` 2999, keeping in mind our target section.

Q. How do you perceive the Indian knitwear sector and how far is your brand poised to compete with those in the same price range?

A. In knitwear market, our brand takes pride to boast that it is one of very few companies having in-house vertical integration. This puts us at an advantageous position, enabling us to upgrade our designs and assures speedy deliveries. I will not be incorrect if I say we are one of the largest T-shirt selling national brands in the domestic market in terms of volume. Though organized players are less with exclusive identity in knitwear market, Classic Polo has carved a niche for itself in the segment.

Q. What factors are considered while designing your products?

A. The brand keeps in mind the international trends, colour prefer-ences, the trajectory of domestic trends and note of the ever evolv-ing perceptions among the youth in terms of apparel. We give a lot of focus on innovation in designing our products. Pricing is also a factor as we aim to give our customers a good dose of fashion at affordable prices.

Q. Do you plan to push up your retail presence in India?

A. Yes we are making efforts and exploring all channels to expand our retail presence. We are continuously widening our horizon in trade, increasing store count and retail presence. We are also exploring our options with large for-mat stores and trying to boost our international presence. All our Exclusive Business Outlets (EBOs) are 100% franchised stores which indi-cate the success of our brand policy.

Q. Are there any plans of venturing in the women’s wear segment in near future?

A. Classic Polo has a mission to capture 10% of Indian male population in next five to seven years. We have no plans to venture into any other target group till then, though we pos-sess the required infrastructure.

Q. Is there any plan of setting up a manufacturing unit in West Bengal as a part of your expansion plan in West Bengal?

A. The Royal classic group which owns the Classic Polo and Bro brands has a huge ` 300 crore manufacturing unit in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu. That unit can service big domestic and international market with ease. The capacity is huge and we can service any amount of domestic and international demand from this manufacturing unit. So, we have no plans to expand our manufacturing units. We have plans to open about 20 new stores in West Bengal in the next two to three years.

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