Keeping prices low and providing premium quality garments in a price-sensitive market, is what Kolkata-based Miki House Apparels makers of the Mickey brand of infant and kids wear believes in. With parents now more willing to spend and
becoming brand conscious, Mickey has emerged as a strong Indian brand with an export market that includes Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait. Having started operations in 1985 in Kolkata, the brand initially used to cater to the local market. Now, the company has a new set-up with revamped local operations and retail distributorship across India. With a current turnover of Rs 20 crores, it is looking at growing at around 18 per cent this year in the domestic market.
“The market is still open and prospects are huge for new and upcoming brands. We hardly face any competition in our segment. Our price points are competitive compared to more established brands. As regards our brand expansion plans, we are into casual and sports-wear but haven’t entered the local market with lounge wear. My next plan is to do this. That will happen by the end of April. Lounge wear will be priced from Rs 250 to Rs 500. Initially, we will have 40 styles. We have a big budget for promotions as well. From this season we are going in for professional shoots and on a big scale. We are giving out posters and brochures from wherever we retail. Towards the end of the year, we will go in for e-retailing as well,” informs Hitesh Ahuja, CEO, Miki House Apparels.
The Mickey brand encompasses a whole range of children’s wear comprising of casual wear, sports-wear and soon lounge wear for girls and boys up to six years. With an affordable pricing, the company manufactures baba suits, shorts, denim, cotton, trousers, three-fours, track pants for boys and for girls there are skirts, harem pants, balloon skirts, shorts, long skirts and dresses among others. It focuses on the comfort factor in infant wear by avoiding the use of metal buttons and placing tags below the neck. For this summer, it plans to have a fusion of textiles in cottons and wovens, which is a mix of a shirt and a T-shirt. “We do keep parents in mind when designing junior wear. So we have a balance of what the child will like and what parents prefer. We strike a balance in terms of designing. For this summer, we are mainly into pastel colors, subtle yellow, subtle orange, some white and black,” says Ahuja.
Miki House Apparels has a pan-India network. Currently, it has 14 distributors and seven agents as well as 250 MBOs across India. It is planning to set up two EBO’s of 1,000 sq ft. in Kolkata, which will be company-owned. It also has plans to set up another four stores by the end of 2011in cities such as Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.
