Van Heusen is going to small towns to grab men by their collars.

The Aditya Birla Group’s Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, owners of the Van Heusen brand in India, has tweaked its marketing strategy to spread word about the international lifestyle brand in Tier-II and -III cities in the country.

“We are going to smaller cities in a big way by opening new stores there,” Vinay A Bhoopatkar, Chief Operating Officer of Van Heusen India, BusinessLine . “There is a huge potential market in Tier-II and Tier-III cities as people there are becoming more aware of style and branded clothing.”

Urban saturation

Van Heusen, better known for its range of men’s clothing and formal wear, is finding the market in metros saturating. The brand recently launched a range of clothing for women, with focus on western-style attire. Kid’s wear and fashion accessories have been the other diversifications.

Bhoopatkar said the ₹1,600-crore sales last year, in maximum retail price terms, was not up to the company’s expectation of a 20 per cent increase. This was due to the saturation of metro markets where discounting was routine. Smaller cities held a lot of promise for fashion wear and branded clothing because of exposure to media and growing disposable incomes. Van Heusen is taking advantage of this by opening more outlets, he said.

The brand, which now has 285 outlets across the country, is also tweaking its business model by opening franchisee outlets and going slow on exclusive-brand outlets. Since women’s range of clothing brought in 10 per cent of sales, more exclusive women’s outlets will be opened; the current 15 would double by next year. The brand will also launch an array of casuals and denims, targeting the youth. As of now, Bhoopatkar noted, Van Heusen’s customers are mostly in the 35-45 age group. Since youths show off the brand they wear, the Van Heusen logo would be sewn on to the fabric.

MYFIT concept

Noting that online sale was on the rise, Bhoopatkar said the company is now trying to integrate online and brick-and-mortar sales. MYFIT, a concept which allows customers to order online after visiting an outlet to check for fit and feel, is a big success.

Related Topics