Nautica plans sourcing from India, increasing retail spread

After taking over the brand last July, Arvind Lifestyle Brands has chalked out aggressive retail growth plans for sports-inspired casual lifestyle American brand Nautica. “Our first task was to get the margins right in terms of sustainability of the

business. Within six months or one year of handling it, we have been able to break even. The other task was to build more partnerships in the market whether it was with department stores or big multibrand stores,” explains Sumith Dhingra, Business Head, Arvind Lifestyle Brands on brand building exercise, company undertook for Nautica.

Right from the name, the design of the stores, the way the merchandise is conceived, with colours of marine life like—blue, aquamarine or orange, the company has worked towards creating an aspirational atmosphere for the brand. Moving forward, reaching out to more cities and increasing domestic sourcing would be plans on the company’s agenda.

Increasing retail footprint in India

When Arvind took over Nautica’s business, it was available in close to 18 stores. Now it has grown to be in 41 stores in 19 cities. “By the end of the year we should be in 70 stores. This includes freestanding stores, departmental stores and shop-in-shops. No shop-in-shop is less than 400 square foot. We have entered Chennai and Hyderabad with our first store,” explains Dhingra.

The company began by creating an equal mix of freestanding stores and department stores. And in big cities, where purchasing power is not an issue, it is going ahead with freestanding stores. Elaborating further, Dhingra says, “In the next set of cities, we will start with corners and as the demand goes up we will set up freestanding stores. Wherever we have gone, we have been among the top three. We are in four doors of Shoppers Stop. By the end of the year we hope to be in 14 doors.”

For now, the entire merchandise on display at Nautica stores is imported but the company is contemplating domestic sourcing too. “We will either tap into the global sourcing base that Nautica has or set up a base of our own that conforms to Nautica’s standards. VF Corp is helping us set up that. Because if we go the import route, prices will go up and we might as well keep prices at a level that consumers find acceptable,” adds Dhingra.

Range at India stores

Nautica offers bottoms, tops, jackets and pullovers at its India stores. “In two or three years, we will be much bigger than what we are. We want to be the most desirable brand in the category. In India we target urban men and women between 30 to 45 years of age. We also have a children’s line. We are also launching water-resistant colourful watches from Nautica soon,” Dhingra sums up.