Kitex brands to be sold through Walmart, Target in US

Kitex Garments, a Kerala-based infant garments maker, has made inroads with Walmart, Target and some other US retail giants. Its two brands will be sold through the network of these retailer chains' networks and it expects to clock $50 million annually from that market in two years.

The BSE-listed entity says it aims to become the largest infant clothing brand in the country by the end of this financial year, doubling its annual turnover to Rs 1,000 crore by 2020.

Sabu Jacob, chairman and managing director, said they'd invested $1 million in Kitex USA, their arm in that country. Another Rs 240 crore will go over the next two years into expanding of capacity in Kerala.

The supply arrangement to Walmart and the other US retailers were after visits by teams from there and checking of samples. "Everything went well, production has started and from September onwards, shipment will start to Walmart," said Jacob.

Kitex, incorporated in 1992, entered the US market as a supplier to mass market brand Gerber. Its client list has since expanded considerably. The US subsidiary was floated around 18 monhs earlier, to cater to retail giants directly.

In the US, Kitex wants to target the mass market by making items 10-15 per cent cheaper. "We are thinking by 2020, the US business would be $50 million a year. We expect to double that," said Jacob.

Kitex also has an amibitious plan to become the gloabbly biggest maker of infant wear, in terms of volume. Today, the largest manufacturer is China's Wingloo, with a capacity of 7.5-800,000 items a day, followed by Singapore's Gimmell with a capacity of 700,000 pieces a day. Kitex says it expects to increase own capacity to over 800,000 a day over two years and to a million items by the end of 2020. The Rs 240 crore investment mentioned earlier for this would be funded through internal accrual and debt.