Cotton County the brand targeted at value seeking consumers has come a long way. Today, it’s present at 700 retail points including over 550 EBOs and 125 shop-in-shops and select MBOs. “Being a value brand, our aim is to penetrate
as many cities as possible. We are in 450 plus cities and intend to increase this count rapidly. Going forward we will be concentrating on MBOs and this will be our main engine of growth for the next year,” Baqar Iftikhar Naqvi, CEO, Cotton County Retail explains.
Largely
catering to men’s segment the range includes formal and casual shirts, T-shirts, trousers, denims, cargos, capris and shorts, winter wear, suits in price range starting from Rs 199 going up to Rs 1,999. “The different brands under Cotton County Retail such as Cotton County, French Republic Premium, and Youth 2216 target various lifestyle requirements of the consumers,” Naqvi explains. Expressing his views on the impending FDI in retail, he says, “Overall, it would make the market more competitive and attuned to international fashion trends. The entry of international retailers will create opportunities and expand the market. However, it will also lead to the demise of certain segments which will be unable to face competition from large global players with multi country supply chains, thus having the advantage of sourcing at the best possible prices and having the ability to very quickly adapt to the changing fashion requirements. Overall, the market will radically change both at the frontend as well as at the backend.”
Denims are a part of Cotton County portfolio. Sharing his knowhow on the category, Naqvi says, “Denim is a highly cyclical category. There are years, when it is completely out of fashion and then there are years when it is the in thing. In the last couple of seasons, denims have been hot and will continue to be so in the near future. Compared to five years back, the denim market is much more mature now and has many more players, both national and international, who are growing as well as changing the market for the better.”
He says demand for denims even in rural areas is picking up with people turning to branded wear however, the modal price is about Rs 500-Rs 600. “There is a certain degree of convergence between metro and non metro trends and what is fashionable in metros also becomes fashionable in non metros and rural areas. However, paying capacities of the customers across the city types change radically”, he concludes.
