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JG Hosiery expands its footprint with brand Sporto

By Meenakshi Kumar

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Retail

Started as an extension to Macho, Sporto has been receiving tremendous traction from consumers. Having established its presence in almost 1,000 stores, the company sees this as just the tip of the iceberg. Navinn Seksaria, Director, JG Hosiery, states, “Sports cum casual wear, has been the trend in recent times. Hence, we started with gym vests as an extension to Macho. It got tremendous response and we decided to scale up and offer the full range of casual wear and sportswear. We launched a TVC last year and new distribution channels.”

The brand has a whole range of intimate apparels encompassing leisure and sportswear. The product range include: T-shirts, shorts, capris, track pants in regular collection. Apart from that, there is an athlete collection made from ‘Fast Dry’ fabrics. In total, there are almost 40 products. “Our target customers are men in the age group 16 to 35 years in A & B segments,” he adds.

Focus on Tier III markets

Talking about their strategy to penetrate into small towns, Seksaria says small towns are no more ‘small’. They are almost as big as some cities were just a decade back. All towns and cities have immense potential and with the presence of media and Internet almost everywhere, it is becoming one common market. Since Sporto targets mid-premium segment, the company is getting equally good response from cities as well as towns. From sales volume point of view, Mumbai vs RoM (Rest of Maharashtra), few years back, was around 3:2 or 1:1, now with growth of smaller towns1, the scales are tilting and RoM is giving them more volumes.

He feels since small towns have lesser brand-crowd, hence entry barriers are easy. They have good consumption as well. “What is challenging is getting the right distribution partner. With good products and networking that can be overcome in a short time. Talking about competition from unbranded players, the unorganised sector is present in all markets, hence, not necessarily in small towns alone. But it affects only the economy segment.”

Retail Spread

The company is primarily focusing on the MBO segment and has been receiving tremendous response. It has established a presence in almost 1,000 stores. “We hope to ramp up our distribution fast and target to grow 10 times in next two years. We have a distribution setup in the Middle East where we have received good enquiries. We aspire to clock in Rs 1,100 crores revenue this year. We expect 20-25 per cent consistent growth in the next 4-5 years. We want to make the Indian hosiery industry the global leader. With the potential of talents in engineering, supply chain combined with insights in marketing, and availability of good raw materials, I hope this should be achievable within next decade,” Seksaria explains. He says new products are being added, and they are extending the ‘Fast Dry in Tracks’ and shorts. “Apart from men’s wear, we are planning to extend our offering in women’s sportswear,” he informs.

JG Hosiery