109°F focuses on small cities to push up growth

Women’s casual wear brand 109°F having established itself as the preferred casual wear brand for urban women, is now eyeing growth in emerging markets of Tier II, III cities.

Small cities the growth centres

“Women customers in emerging markets are extremely fashion savvy. Women in these cities are well aware of what is in trend thanks to the internet and TV. In fact, there is not much difference in terms of demand for fresh styles and latest trends. As a brand, we have recorded healthy growth in Tier II, III markets,” says Radhesh Kagzi, CEO &President, Creative Lifestyles.

In the last few years, the brand has expanded its retail footprint to reaching out to customers across India through 35 EBOs, 109 shop-in-shops and more than 370 MBOs. A significant ratio of its stores is strategically located in cities like Udaipur, Siliguri, Chandigarh, Pathankot, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Pune and Surat. The brand also has exclusive stores in prime location of metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

Incepted in 2006, in a short span of five years 109°F became the No. 1 brand in women’s western wear category in India. The brand has met with tremendous success overseas as well in countries like UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Ecuador, Sri Lanka and Nepal. To widen its retail reach further, 109°F has also launched its e-shopping portal. The website allows the fashion conscious women liberty to shop from the latest collection of women’s tops, tunics, dresses, shrugs and bottoms from both brands 109°F and Fusion Beats. The portal also allows cash on delivery (COD) facility regardless of the order size, which sets it apart from other shopping portals.

With an increasing number of working women looking out for fashionable alternatives to formal wear, the casualwear market in India is witnessing double digit growth. 109°F is all set to ride on the wave as it plans to focus on design and quality to woo women. On a year-on-year basis, the brand is witnessing a growth of almost 40 percent in casual wear. However, in trousers and casual bottom wear the growth is almost 100 percent. By 2016, 109°F is planning to roll another 65 outlets, out of which almost 45 would be franchisee owned and operated. The group’s projected turnover for 2014-’15 is Rs 270 crores.