Punjabi Heritage optimistic about winter business

Punjabi Heritage is looking forward to good business this winter. Optimistic about the season, the brand is ready with a new range of sweat shirts, track suits and bigger size jackets. The brand has also launched a new fashion brand called Absurd. “We are doing approximately Rs 2.5

crore for both brands as ‘Absurd’ (fashion brand) is new to the market,” says Arashdeep Singh Baweja, Director, Punjabi Heritage. The brand had seen good business last winter season and that is creating a lot of optimism. “We are expecting a good season and have some new colours, like army camouflage, bright colours like neon shades of green, orange and pink. Though there is a price rise, we are dropping our margins compared to last year to keep business upbeat,” opines Baweja.

New offerings for Autum/Winter

The brand is playing with quilts in sweat shirts. “We have imported jacquard piece which look similar to leopard prints and have a similar thing in fleece. This year, we are introducing 10 designs each in men’s and women’s in our jacket range. We are doing quilting, furs, metallic zips, golden zips and so on. It is very different compared to the last season,” explains Baweja.

For Punjabi Heritage the designs are the most important aspect, more than accessories and fabrics. The brand concentrates on Sikhism and other concepts, which sell a lot. Their new brand, Absurd has only winter wear like sweat shirts, track suits, quilted jackets for men’s and women’s category. The MRPs are from Rs 895 to Rs 2,495. “This season we are introducing a lot of new fabrics like velvets, different jacket materials, under this label,” states Baweja.

Expanding retail horizon

The company has 5 exclusive outlets in Haryana and Punjab and the collection is present in around 1,150 MBOs. It is also retailed through large formats like Biglife Rituwears and C&M. The major share of earnings are from MBOs.

“Our major planning is around e-commerce for Punjabi Heritage and for Absurd. We are planning to cover Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and want to add another 50 to 60 MBOs this season for Absurd,” avers Baweja.

Baweja says they have to increase prices marginally, but are reducing their own margins. “There is an increase of Rs 50 to 100 in MRPs from the last year. We are getting good growth from e-portals such as Snapdeal and Flipkart. There is more growth from these websites compared to regular retail showrooms.” For branding Punjabi Heritage, company ties up with Punjabi movies some of these are: Dil Vil Pyaar Vyaar, and Happy Go Lucky. It produced official T-shirts for these movies.