Apparel Online India Magazine December 1st Issue 2018 | Page 46

DOMESTIC UPDATE HAVE YOUR SAY BREAKING NEWS Tell us your news by emailing at [email protected] To read the latest sustainability news, go to https://apparelresources.com/business-news/sustainability/  ESSENTIALS Blackberrys has made its presence felt in more than 320 cities with 1,000 retail doors out of which more than 180 are company- owned stores, nearly 65-70 are franchise stores, more than 195 are large formats including Central, Pantaloons. More than 650 are multi-brand outlets. Blackberrys is growing at a CAGR of 17-25 per cent over the last 3- 5 years. The brand has closed for the FY ’17-18 at Rs. 900 crore turnover and is eyeing for Rs.1,100 crore revenue in the next fiscal. Going casual all the way machineries) typically takes care of the formal and the casual segment including suits, shirts, trousers, khakis, shorts, etc. We ensure that the collection is transported from the factory to the consumer touchpoint or the retail counter at least 3-4 weeks ahead of the beginning of the season. However, denims and PU jackets are outsourced from carefully selected manufacturers across India as well as overseas.” Urban Blackberrys store felt in more than 320 cities with 1,000 retail doors out of which more than 180 are company-owned stores, nearly 65-70 are franchise stores, more than 195 are large formats including Central, Pantaloons, etc. and more than 650 are multi- brand outlets. Blackberrys prides itself in doing a merchandise mix on the basis of regional preferences. While typically, there are two seasonal collections – Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter; Blackberrys even extends beyond by offering two or more collections per season. “We break each season into what we call as ‘Hit-1’ and ‘Hit-2’ which evolve as the season progresses and subsequently, we keep on adding more elements to our collections. At Blackberrys, we go according to the flavour of the season for our collections,” maintains Kaushik. While in case of EBOs, metro cities remain the first preference for Blackberrys, Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns have also proved to be a good potential market for the brand which it believes has ‘a large untapped latent demand’ from consumers who are conscious of quality, fashion, style and look. As Kaushik aptly informs, “Blackberrys has a mix market presence in India through multiple channels. In Tier-2 and Tier-3 areas, we mostly have counters in multi-brand outlets. If we look at franchise- owned-company-operated (FOCO) and franchise-owned-franchise- operated (FOFO) segments, our presence is equally split between Tier-1, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.” An expansive reach Moving forward… Essentially an India-centric brand, Blackberrys has made its presence With such intense rebranding and portfolio expansion, Blackberrys is 46 Apparel Online India | DECEMBER 1-15, 2018 | www.apparelresources.com growing at a CAGR of 17-25 per cent over the last 3- 5 years. “We closed this year (FY ’17-18) at Rs. 900 crore turnover and are eyeing for Rs.1,100 crore revenue in the next fiscal,” prides Kaushik. In terms of retail expansion, Blackberrys is planning to open 100 new stores in India this year, wherein 35 will be company- owned and the remaining 65 would be franchise-operated. Also, moving forward, Blackberrys is planning to focus on South India market with all its three brands, for which the company has already created logistics infrastructure, thereby facilitating its growth plans in the region. Even though Blackberrys has got its claim to fame over a period of time and is trying to retain as well as improvise on things like identity, quality and innovation, the country’s retail industry is yet to see if the brand’s goals – developing brand affinity and more ROI with a revenue aspect – are achieved as targeted.