BANGALORE: European casual wear premium brand Esprit is gearing up to introduce new product categories in the country. The company is launching its sportswear, home furnishing, footwear and cosmetics range, in a bid to position itself as a lifestyle brand. Further, to showcase all its new offerings, Esprit plans to unveil large format stores in the range of 8,000-15,000 sq ft. The $5 billion brand entered India in 2005 through a licensing agreement with Madura Garments and is expecting to break even this fiscal, with revenues touching Rs 75 crore. At present, Esprit has one large format store in Select CityWalk mall in Delhi. The brand is looking at opening 10-15 large format stores by 2010. “We plan to unveil large format impactful stores, wherein we will showcase all the new categories to offer a one stop shop experience to our customers. We are not a menswear or a womenswear brand. We are a lifestyle brand globally and in India too we want to offer the complete Esprit range in the large format stores,” Esprit India Brand Head Manjula Tiwari told ET. Presently Esprit offers menswear, womenswear, kidswear, lingerie and accessories.
These large format stores will be spread across luxury malls and premium locations in metros. Right now Esprit operates 30 stores. With the aim of being present in 21 cities, it plans to open 150 stores by 2010. The brand will also be entering new cities such as Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata this year with further expansion in existing markets like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. “We are looking at doubling our business every year through multiple distribution formats. China, India and Southern Europe are three important markets for Esprit,” Ms Tiwari said. Meanwhile, EDC the youth brand from the Esprit umbrella that was launched last year in the domestic market is also contributing significantly to Esprit’s growth. Registering 40% growth globally, EDC has become a $1 billion brand. The company plans to launch 10 exclusive brand outlets for EDC by the year-end and will roll out 50 EDC stores in three years. The brand, which caters to the 14-22 age group and is priced in the range of Rs 550-3,000 will also be promoted in tier II cities. Right now, Esprit operates five standalone EDC stores.SOURCE: ,URVASHI JHA, TNN , 28 Jan, 2008.
