E-teenz capturing the minds of children across India

Cashing in on the potential in the largely untapped kids wear market in India, Dhananjai Apparels– a well-renowned Kolkata-based manufacturer and vendor of children’s garments to large format retail outlets in South India- had launched

its own brand with a new logo called E-teenz last year. The E-teenz brand - where E stands for Early – is a line of teenage wear comprising of top wear, bottom wear, knits and woven, aimed at 2 to 14-year-old boys and girls. It has the license to make and sell in India brands such as Popeye, Spiderman and Pampered Girls. Although the design inputs come from the headquarters, the company maintains their quality standards with in-house designers who further develop the products and then retail them in at affordable prices.

E-teenz stresses on a range of colors, designs and fits to attract children to its stores as it feels that children lead the buying decision more than the parents. The company’s USP is its affordability, quality, durability, design and comfort and the fact that it is available in Tier II-III cities and even in villages, unlike other brands. Whereas city customers may want a subtle T-shirt, someone from the village looks for lots of value additions, but overall the company’s range of products sell well across India. Another USP of the brand is that it follows a fashion cycle of 12 months. So every month there is something new, as children tend to get bored easily.

For the autumn/winter season, the company is displaying new designs in Spiderman and Popeye range and has also imported some sportswear fabrics from China. Although E-teenz does not sell its products in MBO’s, it has a strong presence in large formats and EBO’s which are both franchisee and company-owned.

“Currently we have eight EBOs, which include one in Kolkata, Haryana and Mumbai, two in Gujarat and three in Maharashtra. Nine more are in the pipeline to be set up by March 2011. Out of these, three are coming up in West Bengal -- Asansol (Galaxy Mall), Durgapur (Junction Mall) and Siliguri (City Centre). We are planning 100 stores by March 2012. We also started shop-in-shops within large formats which has grown to 250 now. We plan to double the number in six months. We are working with Reliance, Tata, Birla, ITC, Spencers, Arvind, Megamart etc,” says Ansul Agarwal, Director,Dhananjai Apparels. “We expect to grow by 80 per cent over last year,” he adds.

E-teenz has a total of 10 factories- which are all in Kolkata - with one of their mega factory producing 15,000 garments a day. The company also outsources their manufacturing. It also markets school uniforms and even has its own manufacturing unit for school uniforms and tries to link the marketing of E teenz with school uniforms promotion. And as the company grows, the next step is a brand loyalty program once it reaches a target of 20 stores.