Ginza aiming for a more organized retail presence

Straddling the spectrum of women’s fashion, Mumbai-based Ginza Industries, makers Soie, a women’s apparel and innerwear brand, is now planning to become a dominant player in the domestic lingerie segment. It aims to be a reliable supplier of

lingerie components and garment accessories to the women’s apparel industry. The company presently has one EBO and a fair presence in around 200 MBOs. Now, it is planning to build a stronger EBO presence in Mumbai and create a more organized retail presence across the country. With retail currently accounting for 3 to 4 per cent of their turnover, it wants to push it up to 25 per cent. It also wants to start brand-building exercises as soon as they have sufficient number of stores.

“Although the market is maturing but it’s taking time. We have a strong presence in the west and the north. But as a company, my branded product range is small compared to the other product lines. My other product lines have a presence across the country with all segments of women’s apparel. I am a quality supplier of accessories to garment manufacturers,” says Ashok Sethia, MD, Ginza Industries.

“Today, Ginza is the largest manufacturer of warp knitted fabrics in the country and one of the largest lingerie exporters of India. We do embroidery and elastic tapes. In the lingerie segment, we are the only company that has an integrated manufacturing facility. We make all lingerie components in-house. Others buy the raw materials from different places and do the assembling,” he adds.

In apparels, their product range comprises of Indo-western wear with tops and other garments and in bottoms, there are shorts and leggings. The lingerie segment comprises of bras and panties, fashionable as well as basic. The apparel prices range from Rs 700 to Rs 2,500. At present it is concentrating on existing product categories but plans to launch an enhanced night wear segment within the next three to six months. Sethia feels with very few premium players in the branded lingerie segment, there is ample scope for every brand to prosper. This will give the consumer more variety, more options, and it increase the market for the branded segment at the expense of the unbranded segment.

Ginza began operations in1990 in Surat, 250 kms north of Mumbai. Equipped with state-of-the-art machinery, this plant today has a production capacity of over 200 million meters per annum. The plant also hosts Ginza’s in-house design studio and the company’s fine fabrics and apparel have won acclaim from the biggest buying houses in Europe and the US.