Spencer`s goes for image makeover

Tag : Image Wear


" have always been known as a food and retailing brand. We nowintend to change our image and tap the fashion segment as well,"Samar Singh Sheikhawat, vice-president (marketing), Spencer'sRetail, said.

Currently, the sale of fashion merchandise makes up 10 per cent ofthe total revenues of Spencer's Retail.

" expect sale of fashion merchandise to contribute 25-30 per centto the overall revenues by the end of March 2009, when the companywill have a turnover of Rs 2,000 crore," Sheikhawat said.

Spencer's fashion offerings will be positioned as affordable',with prices in the range of Rs 199 to Rs 1,000.

To begin with, the fashion merchandise will be available only inSpencer's large-format stores. It will allocate 25 per cent of the25,000 to 70,000 sq ft space in such stores to fashion merchandise,up from 10 per cent now.

The company will introduce its private labels in apparels likeIsland Monks (casual wear for men and women), Mark Nicolas (formalwear), Scorez (sportswear), Detailz (basic wear), Asankhya (ethnicand fusion wear), Puddles (for children up to two years of age) andLittle Devils (for children between 2 and 14 years).

Spencer's will also launch private labels in fashion accessoriesunder the brand U n I, comprising bag, junk jewellery, leatheritems, belts, etc, as well as footwear brand Mark Nicolas for menand women. It will also launch larger sizes for plus-sized adults.

The company is restructuring its marketing team to include moredesigners and people with experience in fashion merchandiseretailing. " designers will be selected from design schools inIndia, while the manufacturing will be handled by third-partycontract manufacturers," Sheikhawat said.

Going forward, Spencer's also plans to host fashion shows of thestature of Lakme Fashion Week' or Wills Fashion Week'.

Apart from its private labels, the firm is also looking at bringingtwo apparel brands from the UK and the US to India this year, oneof which will be for children and the other for grown-ups. Both thebrands will be allotted close to 2,500 sq ft each and will beretailed in a shop-in-shop environment inside Spencer'slarge-format stores.