Apparel Online India Magazine November 1st Issue 2018 | Page 47

DOMESTIC UPDATE
only for the south market, largely
comprising of Tamil Nadu, Kerala
and some parts of Telangana. Kerala
and the east are slightly different
from the west and the south as they
are generally homogeneous in nature
in terms of what they wear.
“We’ve been trying to work around
the concept of India being a big
country and are working on
assortments that are region-specific.
These require small quantities which
we can’t make in our brand – so we
buy these from other brands and
keep them in our store to ensure
that the assortment is complete. For
example, we don’t make the entire
range of winterwear, we only make
a limited part of it, and we outsource
the fillers from other brands,”
Sharad stated.
MANUFACTURING
& WAREHOUSING
The brand follows the procedure
of contract manufacturing and
their lead time from design to store
is 9 months. They manufacture
everywhere, from Bangalore to
Selum, to Tirupur to Indore to
Mumbai to Noida to Calcutta,
depending on each hub’s expertise.
This exercise entails them a good
cost advantage and ensures that
their products are competent in
the market as well. In terms of the
brand’s own facility, they have one in
Pune and one in Bangalore.
“Because we have a wide variety
of ranges, we can’t create
multiple facilities – it’s not
economically viable. If tomorrow
schiflee is in trend, I can’t set up an
entire facility with machines that
just do schiflee work; so in such
cases, outsourcing proves to be
more beneficial,” Sharad explained.
Toonz has its mother warehouse
based in Hyderabad, which poses as
its main distribution centre.
“We don’t do less than 800 sq. feet
and we go up to 2,000 sq. feet. Our
basic motto is that the rentals
should be in control – in smaller
markets it always makes sense to
have a bigger store because you can
look like a branded store without
shelling out that much,” Sharad said,
commenting on his store sizes.
Internationally, Sharad
recommends Bangladesh for
basics for large quantities but
advises against smaller quantity
assortments of 50 with 2,000
pieces per style, as it does not
end up giving the same price
advantage. The brand is exploring
opportunities in Bangladesh, while
seeing how it can maintain its cost
advantage within the Indian market
as well.
ONLINE BUSINESS
“I don’t view business as either
online or offline; for me there are
customers and you have to serve
My personal feeling
is that the south is
generally friendlier
towards organised
retail as people
are more used to
shopping in such
environments.
Hyderabad and
Telangana are very
cost-efficient in
terms of real estate.
They are far more
affordable than any
other market and
space is also widely
available. In terms of
Government policies
and restrictions,
Telangana is a
moderate space.
There are no
challenges locally as
well – staff availability
is good, people are
very entrepreneurial.
Karnataka is also
similar but Bangalore
becomes more
expensive, as there’s
no space left – it’s
as good or as
badly choked up as
Mumbai.
them,” Sharad stated. The retailer
is looking at investing in the online
sphere but in the meanwhile sells
via the marketplace model to
various channels.
EXPANSION
“We have been expanding and
growing, we recently opened a
store in Roorkee, at Kumar Pacific,
and we opened a store in Kolhapur
and we have been looking at 5-6
more properties now. We have
also been putting in a lot of efforts
in terms of selling our products
through other channels,” Sharad
told AO.
The multi-brand retailer expects
to reach five states this season,
through the general trade
market which comprises of
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana,
Kerala and Mumbai, as Mumbai
and Maharashtra are two different
states for us.”
The brand is working on expanding
the product categories of
WOWMOM. The retailer plans for
120 doors by the end of this fiscal.
Internationally, Toonz boasts of
five customers including Nepal,
Mauritius and Saudi Arabia.
These are multi-brand retailers
which carry the retailer’s in-
house brands. Toonz also has its
own three stores in Saudi Arabia
through a franchise.
www.apparelresources.com | NOVEMBER 1-15, 2018 | Apparel Online India
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