S Kumars' retail arm likely to unveil economy brands

Brand House Retails (BRH), the retailing division of S Kumars Nationwide, may look at introducing its own brands in the economy ready-to-wear segment and the western casual wear category. BRH Chief Executive Officer Tarun Joshi said the company was actively looking at these categories to fill the void in the company's current offerings.

At present, S Kumars has the Belmont brand in the mid-price segment and Reid & Taylor, which caters to premium buyers. The company has signed a licensee agreement to retail Stephens Brothers in the country, which will cater to the super premium segment, and Dunhill in the luxury segment.

Effectively, this leaves only the economy segment where the company does not have a presence. "We won't look at introducing any international brands in this category, as it will not be viable. Rather, it will be our own brand," Joshi said. While the company's focus, in this segment, will mainly be on shirts and trousers, it will also include basic accessories such as ties and belts.

Casual wear is another category the company is keen on tapping in a big way, though it already has tee-shirts and chinos under the Reid & Taylor and Belmont brands.

Joshi said the company was close to announcing two more international brand tie-ups in the super premium and luxury space but was tight-lipped on further details of the brands. Apart from Dunhill, Brand House Retails is also bringing women's wear brand Escada to the country.

S Kumars may also take Reid & Taylor, its premium brand, to other markets such as West Asia and Pakistan. "Eventually, we will be taking all our brands like Carmichael House and Belmont to other countries, but at present, there is a lot of interest in Reid & Taylor," BRH CEO said.

Brand House Retails, which handles both in-house brands as well as the global brands that it undertakes a licensing agreement for, is eyeing 552 exclusive brand outlets for 20 brands by 2011. The revenue from both licensed and in-house brands for the timeframe is estimated at Rs 900 crore. Of these, 125 stores will come up by March 2007 with a revenue target of Rs 25 crore.