Toonz Retail plans expansion in smaller towns

Sighting an opportunity for kids’ wear in small towns, four-year-old brand Toonz

Retail plans to expand its footprint to Tier-II, III cities. The company, funded by agrochemical firm Crystal Crop Protection, has introduced two in-house labels, WowMom and SuperYoung for infants and kids up to 12 years of age.

The company began its retail journey by licensing characters and merchandise but later decided to venture into the kids’ wear with its own brands. The merchandise is presently available in 45 outlets across India. Plans are afoot to take the store count to 50 by March this year through franchisee route.

Apart from franchisee tie-ups, it is also looking at selling its in-house brands to other retailers apart from creating shop-in-shops with its mass-market range. Though the kids’ wear brands in organized retail space such as Catmoss, Lilliput and Gini & Jony have been suffering due to slow economy, financial crunch as well as a tiff with private equity investors, in-house brands have seen positive growth. According to a KPMG study, the kids’ wear market in India is estimated at Rs 28,000-30,000 crores, and is expected to reach Rs 43,000 crores by 2016.