BackBiba to open first stand-alone kidswear store in Bengaluru next month
Biba plans to open five such outlets by the end of 2016-17
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New Delhi: Buoyed by the success of its kidswear collection, women’s ethnic wear brand Biba Apparels Ltd is planning to open stores that will exclusively sell children’s apparel.
The retailer will open its first stand-alone kidswear store in Bengaluru by mid-September and plans to open five such outlets by the end of 2016-17. Garments will be priced between ₹ 499 and ₹ 5,999 and will cater to girls in the age group of 2-13 years.
“We launched our kidswear line in 2010 that has driven good revenues. That’s why we decided to open stores which will exclusively sell kids’ apparel," said Siddharath Bindra, managing director at Biba Apparels, adding that the company has not yet decided the target cities.
Biba Apparels, which expects to close 2016-17 with a turnover of ₹ 700-750 crore, is hoping to earn around 10% of its revenue from the kids segment. “We earned about 5-7% of our revenue from kidswear collection in 2015-16 and hope to achieve 10% this year," Bindra added.
Currently, Biba sells apparel (including kidswear) through 220 stand-alone stores and 304 multi-brand outlets. The company also sells through online marketplaces Myntra, Jabong and Amazon.
Overall, Biba plans to open a total of 60 stores this year and is expecting to add around 200 new outlets in the next three years. In the process, the company will invest ₹ 200 crore on store expansion over a period of three years.
Launched in 1988, Biba also holds a minority stake in designer label Anju Modi and a 51% stake in designer Manish Arora’s label Indian. Biba Apparels also operates a separate brand Rangriti to cater to tier-II and tier-III markets.
According to Ankur Bisen, senior vice-president, retail and consumer, Technopak Advisors, the kidswear segment has been an attractive market for a long time. “India is a young country with a median age of 25 years. From the demand perspective, it is a good market," he said, adding that a lot of mature brands that have focused on men and women clothing for years have started focusing on kids segment as well.
Earlier this year, Pantaloons, a unit of Aditya Birla Fashion Retail Ltd, ventured into children’s wear and launched Pantaloons Kids in April. In January, Mahindra Retail added children’s clothing, gifts and accessories range of US-based Carter’s Inc. to its chain of BabyOye stores across the country.
“There are a different set of brands which are taking kids as a very interesting and a serious category. In the current phase, kidswear retail is becoming an extension of many brands. Kids segment is largely a complementary category for such brands," Bisen added.
According to industry estimates, the kidswear market is pegged at ₹ 75,000 crore a year, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 15%. The market is expected to double every five years.
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