612 Ivy League: Focus on brand building, retail expansion

After getting Rs 50 crores funds, Indian Clothing League that retails two kids’ wear brands: 612 Ivy League and Baby League has put in place stage wise plans for both brands. “There are three things which we need to do with these funds. First, expansion of our retail footprint; second, brand building

and aggressive marketing,” opines Manu Indrayan, Managing Director, Indian Clothing League.

Utilising funds for expansion

The

brand has a presence in most major retail groups like Shoppers Stop, Globus, Central, Biglife Ritu Wears, Reliance Trends. The company also has seven exclusive franchise stores in Rajasthan and the merchandise is also sold on e-commerce sites. “We want to add more large formats like Lifestyle, Pantaloon, C&M and reach a wider consumer base. We want some flagship EBOs and expand into MBOs. We have started in a small way in Delhi-NCR and tied up with a few MBOs in Delhi, Gurgaon and adjoining areas. A cluster approach will be followed and go region by region,” explains Indrayan.

To strengthen retail, back end needs to strengthen so also the supply chain. “Till now we were primarily focused on manufacturing. Almost 90 percent of the products were manufactured in-house. So there would be some expansion of the manufacturing capacity. But now we are developing a vendor base across the country. We will have dedicated vendors for specialised categories. Sourcing and vendor development will go hand in hand with expansion of retail operation,” he adds.

Another major agenda is focusing on brand message for consumers. For two consecutive years, the company has been winning the best kids’ wear award at Shoppers Stop and at Reliance Trends because of the product mix, the range and the value at which they are offered. “Now it’s time to communicate this to the consumer at a national level,” opines Indrayan and for that company would undertake marketing and brand building measures.

Journey so far

The four-year-old company is looking to close the financial year 2014 with Rs 45 crores in books. At the MRP level, that becomes almost Rs 70 crores. “We were growing at 80 to 90 percent in the last three years. We want to be Rs 100 crores in our books in the next two years,” exclaims Indrayan.

The company has manufacturing facilities in Ludhiana with a capacity of 100,000 garments per month. The product range is developed at the company’s in-house design studio by a team of qualified designers, using modern techniques and processes. 612 Ivy League has been awarded the Best Performing Partner (Kids wear) Award by Reliance Trends and has won the prestigious Pinnacle Award by Shoppers Stop for Best Kids wear Brand consecutively for 2012 and 2013.