Killer EBOs and K-Lounges to spread across India

Kewal Kiran Clothing makers of the brand Killer, one of India’s largest selling denim brands is on an expansion spree. By the end of this year they plan to push up their retail network to 200 stores. Currently, they have two retail concepts -- Killer exclusive outlets and K-Lounges. K-Lounges

house all Kewal Kiran’s brands. Sandeep Varma, Vice President, Killer and Easies points out, “Our EBOs are around 700 to 2000 sq. ft. Most of these are franchisee owned. We have 120 K-Lounges and around 25 Killer EBOs. We want to take the number up to 50 Killer EBOs this year. We will also look at adding 30 K-lounges. So the total retail network would grow to 200 retail stores.” The K-Lounges are between 1,000 to 2,000 sq. ft. area. They have 20 company owned stores and the rest are franchisee outlets. The brand is also present in nearly 2,500 to 2,800 MBOs across India. They also have shop-in-shops with Pantaloons, Central, Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, and Westside.

Killer’s biggest strength is its distribution network. As a brand, they already have a strong presence in Tier II-III cities. Varma avows, “Our EBOs, which were earlier only in Tier I cities will now be in the Tier II and III cities as well. The market is growing in these cities and it helps if a brand is present in those markets. We are already there in Mangalore, Patna and Dhanbad. We will open in Bhubaneshwar and Cuttack soon. In some of these cities we are already present in the form of K-Lounges and we are looking at opening EBOs now.”
 
The brand is also planning to introduce new products this autumn/winter. “We will add knits to our product portfolio this autumn/winter. These will be mainly cotton knits in the casual category. They will be a combination of heavy winter products and T-shirts. The collection would include sweat shirts, flat knits, jackets, etc,” explains Varma.
 
Kewal Kiran Clothing has another popular brand called Easies. The brand was launched to cater to the semi-formal, semi-casual concept of dressing. It is meant for a more mature customer. “Easies is trendy cotton trousers and semi-formal trousers. We have a whole range of shirts from casual to slightly formal shirts. We also have belts and are developing ties for the coming autumn/winter. Some 30-odd tie styles are planned,” says Varma. Easies is currently available in 700 to 800 MBOs.
 
As far as their production capacity goes, last year, they manufactured 1.4 million Killer pieces. “We do around 3 million pieces per year, which incorporates all the brands. Almost 80 per cent of the production is in-house. We are operating out of Mumbai, Daman and Vapi.