Bulchee to launch a brand for youth

Bulchee, the premium accessories brand and one of the most dominant brands in the multi brand stores like Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Central, and Landmark, is now aggressively looking at opening its own branded retail stores. Recently, they opened an exclusive store in Forum

Value Mall in Bangalore taking the count of their EBOs to five. Bulchee is also looking at a brand extension and coming up with unisex products aimed at 20-25 year olds. “We are coming up with brand extension for the youth by October 2010,” says Ramesh Bulchandani, Managing Director, Atlas Brands that makers of Bulchee.
Bulchee’s main products are belts, wallets, ladies hand bags, ladies wallets, ladies belts. The latest addition to their line is pure silk ties. “Our business went up by 35 per cent in organized retail chains despite a slowdown. However, it remained flat in our own retail stores,” Bulchandani says. The brand has been sourcing their designs and technologies from Italy, and has tied-up with traditional craftsmen around Italy.
A strong brand in MBOs and large format stores, Bulchee has now started its stand alone stores. “These are company owned and managed, but we are looking at expanding outside Bangalore and scouting for franchisees,” Bulchandani says. Bulchee is looking for an investment worth Rs 15-20 lakh and a space of around 400 sq. ft. from its franchisee partner. At present, the brand is opening two new stores in Cochin. “We have already identified the property and are in the process of finalizing the franchisee partner. In Chennai, we have opened one store and are adding three more. In Pune we are looking at opening three stores,” he says. The brand, which is doing well in Maharashtra with it’s presence in 38 large departmental stores and 40 Metro shoes stores, is now opening standalone stores in Ghatkopar and Kandivali in Mumbai. In the north Bulchee is well established in Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar. In all they have five EBOs and are present in 400 MBOs and 80 large format stores with shop-in-shops. In Metro shoes, they have 100 outlets. “We are looking at opening another 16 stand alone stores within this financial year. And by the year end, we should have 30 stand alone stores,” explains Bulchandani.
Along with retail expansion, the brand is also looking at expanding its portfolio. In the pipeline are cuff links, socks, handkerchiefs and fashion jewellery.