Regional ethnic wear labels turn to organized retail

Realizing the need of today’s customers many local traditional brands are making an

entry into organized retail by booking retail spaces at high-end shopping malls and high-streets. They are proving to be tough competition for foreign labels, as their sales are three times higher. Traditional standalone high-street silk and textile chains from the south such as Nalli's, RmKV, Naidu Hall and Kalaniketan have made in-roads in premium malls.

As per industry experts, trading volume of ethnic wear is pegged at around Rs 1,900 per sq. ft. compared to western stores at Rs 900 per sq. ft. Even famous stores based in Delhi's Chandni Chowk and Lajpat Nagar areas are increasingly booking mall spaces to tap trendy shoppers. While Nalli's, RmKV and Naidu Hall have already entered several malls in Chennai and Bangalore, retailers from Chandni Chowk are set to step into Noida's DLF Mall from July. Even Kalaniketan, Malabar and Kalyan have opened stores at malls in Hyderabad. Fashion wear stores Kapil & Monika and Kapsons from the North and Cocopelee from Bangalore are among the 30-odd names that have tapped the malls segment.

According to retail consultancy firm Wazir Advisors, the ethnic wear market is expected to grow at 12 per cent by 2018 to Rs 500,000 crores from the current market size of Rs 250,000 crores. The women's ethnic wear market is expected to expand by 14 per cent to Rs 1.75 lakh crore in 2018.