Via Italia: An EBO in Mumbai is on the cards

Having ventured into kids’ wear with the brand Via Italia in 2006, Rank Retails is upbeat about forthcoming summer bookings and expects to achieve 15 to 20 per cent growth by March 2013. Elaborating on the retail and product expansion plans,

Ashish Bhaskar, Director, Rank Retails says, “Our expertise has been in manufacturing high quality children’s clothes. We are cashing in on our strength in the domestic market. We are planning to increase our MBO presence by 25 per cent per annum along with launching another exclusive outlet in Mumbai. We are also building our e-retailing platform, which would be formally launched in June this year.”

The brand’s collection is currently available through 295 MBOs especially in North India. Meanwhile it’s trying to penetrate into South India. “We have been in Mumbai for four seasons in stores like Amarsons and Options. We are also entering Maya by Gitanjali and discussing with Shoppers Stop and Lifestyle. We have one EBO in Delhi,” he adds.

As for new product addition, they are introducing a small range of girls’ undergarments this summer. The brand caters to girls between six months to 12 years and boys between 2 to 16 years. The girls’ range include: T-shirts, body suits, dresses, skirts, shorts, and hot pants and the boys’ collection consists of shirts, T-shirts and denims.

Commenting on New Age kids deciding for themselves on what to purchase, Bhaskar says, “We develop merchandise for girls by following European trends because we don’t think an eight-year-old will accept her parents’ suggestions since they are aware about what’s in fashion. Children are getting brand conscious now.”

He feels the kids segment faces several challenges, “This segment is not as simple as men’s wear, where you have 15 check shirts and 15 plain shirts and 15 striped shirts and you sail through the season. In junior wear you have to keep introducing new styles, new designs, and new elements. For instance, we have 15 designs a month in our EBO.”

Talking about the industry’s prospects, Bhaskar opines that companies who survive the downturn will grow eventually and with FDI a few unorganized labels will merge into the branded sector. “Buying capacity may have risen but India is still a price-sensitive market. It’s very difficult to say what will sell in a region. A junior wear brand needs the right strategy to enter the market. If you are not known, but keep on opening exclusive outlets, that will go down the drain. Consumers in Tier II and III cities are still not openly accepting the bold kids’ fashion such as backless dresses or cropped skirts compared to metros,” he adds.