Elson to enter untapped markets

Elson the winter wear brand offering varied products like sweaters, thermals, caps, mufflers among others has been witnessing demand throughout the year since it supplies to stores catering to NRI customers. The brand is now targeting 10-15

percent growth this financial year. Building on the 10 percent growth it witnessed last winter, the company is looking forward to positive winter sales.

Explain Gurdip and J P Singh, Directors, Elson Hosiery Mills, “We expected to rake in 15 percent growth last winter but it could not happen because of labour problems. We start bookings in March and if we evaluate our bookings with last year we have almost done the same numbers. We completed almost 50 percent bookings before the May fair in Ludhiana. And we still have to visit the places Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune and Gujarat.”

For the season, Elson has introduced a collection in pure wool, machine washable material; which is 100 percent pure wool or woolen blends like 30 percent wool and 70 percent acrylic etc. “Then there is 100 percent cotton. In pure wool, we make black and white. In cotton, we make white and grey. We have also started light grey in pure wool machine washable thermals. We are the only one in Ludhiana who make black colour in pure wool machine washable thermals. Black colour amounts to 30 percent of our sales,” tells the duo.

They further add saying, “We have Stoll machines installed in our factory which is generally used to produce sweaters, but we also use it to make caps, and mufflers. So these accessories have good quality finishing and are different from what we usually see in the market. In sweaters we are making pure wool machine washable products.”

The company established in 1972 has witnessed stable growth ever since its commencement. “We started with sweaters and thermals and later specialized only in thermal wear products for men, women and kids,” they explain. The brand caters to markets like Mumbai, South India, Kolkata, West Bengal, Delhi, Maharashtra and Gujarat through 150 MBOs. “We are also supplying to chain stores like Globus.” It sees a huge potential in states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab but is yet to foray there. “The reason we have not touched based is due to price points; these markets still demand 80/20 thermals and want fancy stuff. But we will soon target them one by one,” say the duo.