Vardhaman Traders launches two menswear brands

Company plans to open 100 franchisee stores across country by 2005

Hyderabad-based Vardhaman Traders, dealers in fabrics for over three decades, launched two brands of shirts and trousers yesterday.

The Rs 10-crore company has invested about Rs 4 crore in manufacturing units and expects the two brands to generate sales of between Rs 5 crore and Rs 6 crore in the next six months. The company also plans to open 100 franchisee stores across the country by 2005.

Addressing a press conference here, Bhawarlal Jain, the group's chairman, said: "The experience gained in the last 30 years in cloth trading has given us enough experience to launch our own style of garments."

"There is also a big market for readymade clothes and we have, therefore, launched these products. Both the brands are not very expensive and would give customers value for money," Jain added.

Apart from a wide distributor and retail network, the company plans to open 100 franchisee stores across the country by 2005. These franchisee networks would come up in a three-phase expansion plan.

The first phase would see over 25 showrooms in the state, in the second phase showrooms would be set up in the other three southern states and in the final stage across the country.

"We are targeting a market share of about six per cent in the first year in the state and about 10 per cent in the entire country," Jain said.

Vardhaman has launched two menswear brands 'Godwin'and 'Guido'. The brand name Guido comes from the Italian word which means 'guy in Italy' and Godwin derives its name from the 10th century saint from England who is credited with being the person behind the evolution of United Kingdom.

"Apart from Godwin and Guido brands, these showrooms would also have leather accessories like shoes and wallets. In all, these showrooms would have a complete men's range," Jain said.

The Godwin range of shirts are priced between Rs 495 to Rs 595 and would be a mix of cotton and polyester. While the Guido range shirts are priced between Rs 595 to Rs 795. The trousers range starts from Rs 695.

The cloth would be from leading manufactures in the country and would also be imported from Italy. Jain said that about five per cent of the cloth meant for Guido range would be imported.