Koutons plans foray into men's innerwear

Koutons Retail India Ltd (KRIL), the Rs 800 crore manufacturer and retailer of readymade garments, is foraying into innerwear for men in line with expansion of their product offerings. The men's undergarments will be sold under the brand name of 'Koutons Innerwear' and will be launched in July this year. The company, which has just launched swim and beach wear for children, will also be adding its lingerie collection sometime later.

Said D P S Kohli, chairman, KRIL, "The innerwear market is growing very fast as men and women are not just looking at it as an innerwear but as a fashion statement these days. We will offer undergarments made out of the best quality fabric at very affordable prices."

The men's innerwear will be priced in the range of Rs 35-60 for a pack of two pieces. The ladies collection will take some more time as it involves a lot of planning and unlike men's innerwear the design elements of ladies' innerwear require a very careful selection, Kohli said.

Speaking to Business Standard here after the launch of their first large format family store, he said the company has earmarked a capital expenditure of Rs 150 crore during the current financial year to expand its retail network. KRIL is planning to add another 600 stores during the current year to its existing network of 1,214. Of this, 100 stores will be located in southern states.

"All these years, we have been opening stores in northern and central India. But this year, we will focus on expanding our network in south and western India," he added.

The company is looking at opening large format family stores. A typical size of family stores will be in the region of 6,000 sq ft to 9,000 sq ft which will display the entire range of products manufactured and sold by Koutons. The company on Saturday opened its biggest ever exclusive brand outlet spread over 9,000 sq ft in Bangalore's Koramangala locality.

As part of its expansion plans, Koutons is also looking at tapping the export markets by end of 2008. To begin with it plans to export its products to West Asian countries. Currently, the company is in talks with a large retail network based in West Asia to open Koutons' shop-in-shops. "We are in final talk with them and are looking at taking 1,000-1,500 sq ft area in their existing shops," Kohli said.

KRIL, which reported a topline growth of 97 per cent to Rs 793 crore in 2007-08, is looking at maintaining a growth of 70-80 per cent during the current year. Much of this growth will come from expansion and increase in product offerings, he said.