Jockey to foray into leisure, kids wear

Page Industries, the licensed manufacturers of inner garments brand Jockey, are planning to explore the booming retail market in India. The company is foraying into the leisure wear and kidswear segment.

It is also strengthening its presence in the thermal wear and women's wear to position Jockey as a lifestyle product.

As part of its brand building exercise, it is also considering to sign a woman brand ambassador for the Indian market.

Ashok Genomal, chairman and managing director, Page Industries told Business Standard, "While consolidating the core business of men's undergarments, we are also focusing on thermal and leisure wear as these categories are potential growth drivers in India. The leisure wear segment, in particular, is either unorganised or there are very high-end brands. We intend to fill this void by introducing a range of products like tees, gymnasium shorts and knit pants."

Apart from eyeing traditional markets in thermal wear like north India, Page Industries also plan to enter new markets like Bangalore.

"This is primarily because the demand for thermal wear is no more seasonal. More people are travelling abroad and the mushrooming of BPOs and IT companies have fuelled the demand for thermal clothing," said Genomal.

Nischal Puri, general manager marketing said, "Jockey will be expanded synergistically to cater to the related market segments. This expansion will be complemented by product innovation and retail expansion. We are focusing on increasing the retail space and revamping the top 3000 MBOs."

This year, Jockey opened 18 exclusive brand outlets and plans to double the number by next year through the franchisee model.

Page Industries is also in the process of increasing the production capacity in order to supplement the new product ranges.

With the current manufacturing capacity of 1.2 lakh pieces a day, the company is setting up a new plant spread across 1,25,000 square feet.

The company is already in talks with Jockey International, USA to manufacture and export innovative products to the company's other global licensee partners.

"The negotiation process is on with Jockey International and we are confident of starting this in a year, " said Puri. The Indian innerwear market is estimated to be worth Rs 4,200 crore, of which unorganised sector is valued at Rs 3,025 crore.

The mens wear is Rs 2,500 crore while women innerwear market is valued at Rs 1,700 crore.