Tiger, tiger washing white

Set up last year, Dhrov India Ltd's premium dry-cleaning brand is transforming into a national chain

Many wouldn't declare publicly where they wash their dirty linen, but help is at hand for people like the finicky daughter of a leading Delhi-based industrialist who's known to ship her clothes straight to a dry-cleaning destination in the UK.

Or for people like Vandana Luthra, the promoter of the weight loss and beauty clinic chain VLCC, who used to get her life-size soft toys cleaned abroad.

White Tiger, a dry-cleaning brand established by Delhi's Dhrov India Ltd, is silently on the prowl setting up new outlets not only in the capital but in other cities as well.

For a company that opened its first dry-cleaning shop in October 2002, White Tiger has already set up seven stores in posh Delhi neighbourhoods like New Friends Colony and South Extension.

Its strategic plan includes opening 18 more stores in the city by December this year. The next step includes taking the brand to places like Mumbai, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Hyderabad and Bangalore by September 2004.

Says Dhrov India's vice president (corporate) Rajeev Sekhri, "We'd like White Tiger to become a national chain. But in the first phase we are trying to educate customers about fabric care."

Dhrov India is a subsidiary of Rs 200-crore Shiv-Vani Universal, a listed company with interests in oil exploration, textiles and crew boat services. The promoters are the Daga and Singhee family.

White Tiger claims to chip in extra services while handling your zardosis and bunny-eared bathroom slippers.

Its fabric care is through state-of-the-art machinery, delivery system is efficient and packaging comes with anti-slip trouser guards and anti-crease shirt collar clips.

Clearly, Anuj Pasricha, retail head at White Tiger is trying to push the brand as one which provides world-class service at affordable prices.

If Pasricha is to be believed, India's rich and famous not only get their precious accessories "" Prada bags, Luis Vuitton wallets, Hugo Boss belts and bric-a-brac designer stuff "" dry-cleaned abroad, some even lug their laundry bags halfway across the world.

"We have people coming and saying that they get their clothes dry-cleaned in Bangkok, Milan and Singapore. We are trying to convert White Tiger into a lifestyle brand and tell our customers that they can get international service at economical prices right here in India," he adds.

Having ploughed in Rs 20 crore in plant and machinery, the company is targeting a profit of around Rs 6 crore in the first year, informs Sekhri.

Besides its retail customers, the company has secured laundry contracts from hotels, such as Marriott WelcomHotel, Uppal's Orchid and Shipra Group of Hotels and has undertaken packaging contracts from export firms.

The company currently owns a 25,000-clothes-per-day processing plant and 2,00,000-litre water softening plant in Noida.

White Tiger's wet and dry care rates are about 8-10 per cent higher than those available at older establishments.

But the ISO-accredited company hopes that its superior fabric maintenance and other add-ons like a 24-hour outlet, speed delivery, free pick-up service from homes of its loyal customers and its customised furnishing dry-cleaning services on site will give it an edge.

The company has also started cross-promotional activities with retail stores like Ebony, Globus, CTC Plaza, Roop Sarees and Ushnakmal Moolchand by offering trial coupons with their products.

In the highly disorganised dry-cleaning sector, the company hopes to beat old players like Snowhite Dry Cleaning and Novex Pvt Ltd.

Both Snowhite and Novex are currently run on franchisee basis and own 21 and 25 stores respectively. And they are already feeling the heat of competition.

Says Ravi Shankar Bhargav of Novex Ltd, "Of course, we are going to be affected with a new chain. But currently we're focusing on consolidation rather than expansion."

Set up in 1937, Novex enjoys brand loyalty but is currently relocating its plant, complying with the Supreme Court order to remove polluting units from the city zone.

Currently White Tiger's facility is running at 50 per cent capacity, but the company hopes to generate 70 per cent of its revenue from the retail segment and the rest from bulk users.