Monte Carlo to increase focus on women’s wear

Backed by the resources of the Rs 5,000 crores Nahar Group, Monte Carlo offers a summer and winter range in a variety of colours and fabrics, at competitive prices. With its extensive product basket and retail reach, the company wants to grow sales of its women’s wear, while concentrating on

the popular shirt category. “We closed the last financial year with Rs 500 crores at wholesale prices. We expect to close this year at Rs 550 crores,” says Sandeep Jain, Executive Director of Monte Carlo Fashions.

Focus on women’s wear

Monte Carlo, launched in 1984, offers complete wardrobe for a fashion conscious family. “We have a winter wear range (cardigans, pullovers, jackets, shirts, trousers, sweat-shirts, denims, thermals, shawls etc.) and a summer range (shirts, T-shirts, trousers, denims, Bermudas, shorts, capris and kurtis etc,) with an exclusive linen collection. The upper segment brand presented by Monte Carlo is Platine which has a premium range of cardigans, pullovers, Jackets, Shirts, Trousers and T-shirts,” says Jain, elaborating on the complete range offered by the brand.

The company has also launched ‘Tweens Monte Carlo’ label for 8 to 14 year olds. It makes sweaters, jackets, T-shirts, sweat shirts, track suits, shirts, and denims under this brand. “We hope this segment contributes about Rs 50 crores in the next three years to Monte Carlo’s revenues. Under Monte Carlo, we will now focus on women’s wear. Right now it contributes 30 percent of our turnover. For women, we have sweaters, jackets, track suits, T-shirts and denim. We will expand on these categories and hope it contributes at least 40 percent of our turnover in two years,” avers Jain.

Monte Carlo is present across the country through approximately 200 EBOs and 1,200 MBOs including large format stores. The share of EBOs is 40 percent and 60 percent is from MBOs. Plans are on anvil to strengthen presence in the western and southern parts of India.

Non-branded players have the major share of customers but branded players also have a good range with satisfactory results. Every premium established brand and major corporate houses have popular shirts as a segment. Monte Carlo has popular shirts under the ‘Basics’ segment. Talking about the collection Jain says, “It has 10 popular shirt designs in various fabrics (poplin, chambray, oxford, twill, yarn-dyed pinstripes, yarn-dyed checks) with up to 10 colour options. The popular shirt segment not only has formals, but also includes washed formal designs. Those who used to wear tailored or readymade labels are switching to Basic shirts. They are attracted by the premium brand label and the quality.”

About 40 to 45 percent of the shirt market falls under this segment. Tier II and III are major markets, with a small percentage of customers in metros. However, the category is ruled by the unorganized players. Pointing out the reasons behind this, Jain says, “It’s to do with the country’s economic condition and the basic needs of the masses. That’s what propels unorganized players to enter this segment. It is lucrative and has business potential.”

The parent company Rs 5,000 crores Nahar Group is an industrial conglomerate with a diversified portfolio that includes spinning, knitting, fabric processing, hosiery garments and knitwear, apart from infrastructure development and IT. Monte Carlo Fashions (MCFL) is the flagship company of the Nahar Group. MCFL is the owner of the knitwear brands Monte Carlo, Platine, Alpha and Tweens Monte Carlo.