O-Live: Fast forwards growth with new stores

A brand exclusively for men, O-Live opened its doors just two-and-a-half year ago. But within this short period it has created a remarkable presence in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal, Rajasthan, MP, Maharashtra,

Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Now, it plans to expand its store network and also adding accessories to its product portfolio.

Anil Bhardwaj, Partner, Maitree Exports, makers of O-Live says, “We started off with a distribution channel and now are present in almost 500 MBOs. Gradually, we opened our own stores in Gujarat at Surat, Ahmedabad and Rajkot. As of today we have about a dozen stores and would like to increase it to 20 by March 2012. The new stores will come up in places like Nanded, Ujjain, Raipur and Bhillai.” O-Live also has a tie-up with Treasure Showcase who is opening 20 malls all over India. O-Live will have brand stores in these malls.

A major part of their portfolio has denim. The denim range at O-Live stores is priced between Rs 895 to Rs 1,395. Adds Bhardwaj, “we also do jackets and T-shirts, which are sourced from Ludhiana. We now plan to add accessories like deos and belts for men manufactured in China. Once our 20 EBOs are operational and profitable, we may also stock bags and shoes.” Talking about the current styles, Bhardwaj says, “In denim we roughly follow international styles and washes. Fashion abroad is very sober and that’s the trend in India as well. Keeping these in mind, we are also thinking of exporting denims.”

The company also manufactures women’s and children’s wear but only for export purpose. Bhardwaj feels that both these categories are not an easy business to handle in the domestic market but as far as exports are concerned, they manage it well since they know what and how much to produce while selling is not their headache.

Talking about FDI in single brand retail, Bhardwaj says, “We are looking for a foreign partner, since investors from Milan and Paris are keen to invest in India. FDI will help me get more liquidity. We are also thinking of opening an e-store in Italy. So at present, we are updating our website accordingly. Maybe we will host a website in Italian and start selling products from Milan all over Italy through an e-commerce platform. In the next six months, we will focus on e-retailing of O-Live in the domestic market to test the waters.” The company has been witnessing a steady turnover increase of 40 per cent a year and expects a higher growth in the next two to three years.