Focus on in-house and foreign labels expected to boost Pantaloons

The Aditya Birla Group expects Shital Mehta, Chief Executive of Pantaloons Fashion

and Retail, to turn-around its business. Mehta had transformed Van Heusen from a Rs 50 crores wholesale men's shirt brand in 2002 to a premium, lifestyle one with sales around Rs 1,000 crores. Birla acquired the loss-making department chain from Future Group for Rs 1,600 crores, over a year ago.

Efforts are visible with the group introducing its own labels on Pantaloons’ shelves. Obviously, the focus is on women’s fashion since it accounts for about half of Pantaloons’ sales. And exclusive, in-house brands such as Annabelle and Rang Manch draw 20 percent higher crowds than the national brands. Rest of the space is now dedicated to marquee brands under the Madura Fashion and Lifestyle portfolio such as Allen Solly and Peter England. Plans are also afoot to expand retail presence by opening 20 stores by next year, while renovating the existing ones.

Bringing foreign labels to Indian customers is also on the company’s agenda. As a part of this strategy, Pantaloons recently signed a licensing deal with American women's clothing brand Candie's. The youth brand is sold across 650 doors globally and ranks among the bestsellers at US-based department store chain Kohl's. The company has also launched San Frisco Jeans Co. and Byford, a British sport inspired lifestyle brand.

With sales of Rs 1,661 crores in fiscal 2014, the department chain is still in the red with a net loss of Rs 187.7 crores, which the company attributes to increased staff and renovation costs. The company expects the new initiatives and ongoing efforts to pay off in the long run.