Ludhiana\'s recession baby starts walking

CHANDIGARH : Arun Aggarwal, managing director of Sears Knit that makes jackets for Arrow and Raymonds, recently opened the first retail outlet for

his own 'Lure' brand at the God Souk Grande mall in Ludhiana. So did 42 other local brands including better-known ones such as Octave, Monte Carlo, Bluemount and Madame as traditional contract manufacturers from the century-old hosiery and knitwear hub have come together to build a common platform for brand Ludhiana.

The Ludhiana Direct Factory Outlets (LDFO), a joint venture between local brands and property owners, is a recession's baby, set up when demand from the US and other exports markets nosedived, making textile companies turn to the domestic market for survival.

"LDFO is result of brainstorming by seasoned entrepreneurs and a study that emphasis on pooling resources and create synergy under the cluster-based marketing strategy," says Perminder Singh, president of the consortium. It will open its Delhi chapter next month at Wedding Souk at Pitam Pura with 25,000 square feet of retail space, to be followed by a 15,000 sq ft unit in Jaipur. Its Ludhiana outlet is spread across 40,000 sq ft.

"The common platform has provided opportunity to strengthen brand presence by showcasing goods in lavish retail outlets that conforms to world class décor and infrastructure," says Mr Aggarwal.

LDFO encompasses different product categories like men wear, ladies wear, kidswear, shawls, home furnishings and accessories and member brands include Octave, Monte Carlo, Barclay, Lure, Bluemount, ENRG, Madame, Creative Line, Confidence, Rage, Dove, W&T, Juelle, Ziama, Teeknits, Waves, Palmer, Bodyguard, Refuel, Shingora, Sharman Shawls, KMark, Jain Shawls, Elson, Warmzone, Renova, Reverie, Charlie, Sleepins and Oriental's.

The collective retail platform has overcome basic disadvantage of sustaining company owned outlets round the year, particularly since majority of brands are either winter wear oriented or restricted to summer wear.

"Small brands benefits by skipping the wholesalers, marketing and branding costs," says Vinod Thapar, president of Ludhiana Knitwear Club.

And these brands don't have to worry about recurring costs after the initial contribution and stocks as the LDFO takes care of all day-to-day management and manpower costs. Revenues generated from sales are divided equally between the three stakeholders — brands, property owners and LDFO.

The consortium, which has so far invested Rs 5 crore, will enter other major cities in the country soon, Mr Singh says.
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