Following its long success with menswear brand John Players, ITC Group is all set to launch a Miss Players, a womenswear label, in the next week across the four metros of India. The range will be positioned as a “complete wardrobe solutions” for 18-25-year-old women.
In the initial phase, Miss Players will be available at John Players’ exclusive outlets. The plan is to open 12 EBOs for Miss Players as well in the current fiscal. Bangalore is scheduled to have four of these outlets, with the first launch set for September-October.
Chitranjan Dar, chief divisional executive, Lifestyle Retailing Business Division, ITC, told Indiaretailing at The SHOP, Bangalore, “Once the trial run is accomplished, we will pull out the womenswear range out of the John Players’ outlets. The branding for Miss Players will be separate distinctive.”
John Players, introduced in March 2003, will have an additional 260-280 outlets this fiscal, while Wills Lifestyle will be richer by 20 outlets in the same period. For John Players, the target locations will be tier I and II cities and towns. The company plans to refurbish its Wills Lifestyle outlets and is working out a new look for the purpose. For the record, Wills Lifestyle contributes 60 per cent to the group’s apparel business, with John Players accounting for the balance.
— Bangalore Bureau
