Private labels, new retail formats to drive Future Group

Future Group is planning to promote ethnic wear brand – Srishti. This is part of its private labels business. As the country’s largest retailer, it has plans of adding a new private label every quarter. A subsidiary of Pantaloon Retail, Future Brands owns

the group’s consumer product brands sold mostly through group companies such as Indus League Clothing, Home Solutions (India) and Big Bazaar. Future Brands also plans to sell its labels through other retailers and has already licensed out apparel brand John Miller, which will be followed by Bare, DJ&C and Dreamline this year. Apparel labels contribute about 70 per cent to the total revenues of the company. The company is targeting a 60 per cent revenue growth this fiscal up from the Rs 1,000 crores revenue clocked last year.

Meanwhile, Indus League Clothing is diversifying from a western branded apparel company to a specialty retailer. By bundling together a cross section of its in-house brands, Indus League Clothing intends to make bigger strides in the formal menswear segment with the retail format called Headquarters. The company expects to grow 30 per cent over last year with tween girls brand Jealous 21 and casual lifestyle brand Scullers. It may be noted that in March the company had launched a sub-brand called Scullers Premium League.

Headquarters, which is positioned as a retail offering includes Daniel Hechter, a premium French brand that was launched in India last year, techno formals brand Urbana and Indigo Nation. Pantaloon, which owns a 68.3 per cent stake in Indus League Clothing, will support the strategy with its premium formalwear private label Lombard and the Future Brands-owned mid-priced brand John Miller.

Such a strategy also stems from the company’s need to optimally invest in its eight apparel brands. Although the company will continue to set up flagship outlets for its in-house formalwear brands, an umbrella offering will boost retail ramp up and is expected to collectively aid the brands’ equity. Headquarters was piloted in Kolkata in December last. It is being expanded to 6-8 outlets of 2,000- 3,000 sq. ft. area this year in cities like New Delhi, Bangalore, Nagpur and Hyderabad.

Incidentally, Aditya Birla Nuvo’s apparel arm Madura Garment’s too had set up Planet Fashion in 2001 as a multi-brand retail vehicle for its own menswear brands. In recent years, Planet Fashion has opened doors to non-Madura brands such as Levis Strauss, Monte Carlo and ethnic label Manyavar in a bid to offer a complete menswear portfolio.