Cherokee: To relaunch infant line, spread to smaller cities

Cherokee, the American lifestyle brand offering casual and comfortable clothing for the entire family and home is planning to relaunch its infant line. The brand that is retailed in India by Arvind Retail through Megamart stores only is also looking at

accelerating its growth rate. Internationally Cherokee Inc. owned and represented brands generate over $4 billion in annual retail sales worldwide. In India, Cherokee generated Rs 60 crores last fiscal and is expecting to cross more than Rs 80 crores by the year 2011-12.

Cherokee’s vast product portfolio includes apparels for men, women and children, accessories, travel gear and home needs. Since its motto is to cater to the needs of every member of the family, the price ranges between Rs 299 to Rs 999 for men’s T-shirts, formals and denims, whereas the women’s range is between Rs 299 to Rs 499 that includes tops and denims. Venkatachalapathy K E, CEO, Cherokee says, “We follow the concept of three seasons in a year – Spring/Summer, Festive and Autumn/Winter. For the coming winter, Cherokee is coming out with American Heritage inspired stylized shirts with heavy washes and big checks and T-shirts with lot of appliqué work and embroideries. The denims are very youth-oriented with high style quotient, taking its inspiration from adventure activities like biking (grunge look), military (rugged look) and superheroes.”

It is also looking at strengthening the accessories, luggage and home product portfolio under Cherokee Glam, Cherokee Gear and Cherokee Home sub-brands. “Cherokee Home includes a wide range of soft home furnishings starting from entry level price points to the premium segment. For the forthcoming festive season, special gift packs of divan sets, gold bed covers, bed sheets, voil comforters, luxury bed sheets and comforters and jacquard towels would adorn the racks,” he informs.

Meanwhile, it has rolled out vigorous retail expansion plans but only through Megamart outlets. Venkatachalapathy says they are looking at deeper penetration into Tier II, III towns with cluster of stores helping the company to get a multiplier effect of incremental sales resulting into improved promotions for these towns.

Meanwhile, Megamart is exploring tie-ups with two more international brands, giving superior product offering and hence enhancing the brand equity. Also in the pipeline are new format Megamart stores (8,000-12,000 sq. ft.) for select markets catering to a wider demography with increased and improved merchandise. “We have employed world-class design house – JHP, London for fine tuning the concept. We also want to form a centralized sourcing group coupled with international sourcing giving us cost advantage,” Venkatachalapathy elucidates.

Van Nuys-based Cherokee Inc, is a marketer, licensor and manager of a variety of brands like Cherokee, Sideout and Carole Little. Currently, it has licensing agreements in a number of categories, including family apparel, fashion accessories and footwear, as well as home furnishings and recreational products. Megamart, a pioneer of the value-retailing concept in India arrived on the scene at a time when multi-brand discount outlets were still an unheard of phenomenon and changed the rules of the retailing business in India. By keeping overheads and other costs to a bare minimum, it was able to pass on maximum savings to customers. Megamart offers deals on mega brands 365 days a year. It closed last fiscal with Rs 425 crores and looking at clocking in Rs 600 crores this financial year.