Italian suiting brand manufacturer Georgia Gullini plans to open 100 stores in India in 2013-14 focussing on tier 2 and 3 cities before moving into the metros. According to the company officials, the Italian menswear brand is likely to follow a franchise model for its upcoming stores. Georgia Gullini is targeting a Rs 100 crore retail turnover this year through its distributors and expects to increase it to Rs 180 crore by the end of the fiscal year 2014 through its franchise stores. The brand recently appointed 1,400 distributors on a pan India basis in metros and tier 2 and 3 cities.
Going forward, the brand plans to strengthen its foothold in the country by looking at multiple avenues of reaching its customers. Vivek Mehta, CEO, Georgia Gullini, said: “We are currently in the process of tying up with well-known designers to create a special line and may look at retailing through their outlets. We have also invested significantly in a multi-pronged marketing campaign to increase awareness about Georgia Gullini in the Indian market.” In the next one or two years, the company also plans to explore opportunities for tying up with well-known women’s designers to create a special line for women as well.
Mehta said that the key factor for international retailers coming to India is to customise the offering to suit Indian tastes. He added: “One would need to keep in mind India’s hot weather, penchant for bright colours, and the various celebratory occasions as a starting point to understand the market and analyse what products would work best.”
Speaking about the customisation to suit the Indian taste, Mehta said that Georgia Gullini’s fabrics are designed in Italy but it has in-house designers in India who review the designs and customise the collections. The brand creates two collections annually – the Spring/Summer collection and the Autumn/Winter collection. All the fabrics within the collection are available within India though its distributors who get to choose what they specifically want to stock.
Talking about the challenges faced by international retailers entering India, Mehta further added: “Body sizing is definitely a challenge for international retailers as most Indians have a unique shape that does not lend itself well to international sizing standards. As we predominantly create suiting fabrics, body sizing is not a challenge for Georgia Gullini as customers can purchase our fabric and tailor a suit to their body. For us the challenges are few because while the designs are made in Italy, all our fabric is manufactured through our Shahapur facility in India itself. Setting up a huge distributor base pan India has definitely helped us get wider coverage with our brand. Unlike other international brands that bring in their existing lines to sell within India, our specialty lies in offering worsted suiting fabrics that are customised for the Indian men while still retaining their Italian design roots and, therefore, the journey in India has been relatively smooth for us so far.”
He said that the marketing strategy of the brand in India involves advertising, working with designers, participating in industry awareness, and market activations at the grass root level. Gullini has a 45-acre manufacturing facility in India at Shahapur employing 800 people.
Explaining the required groundwork before entering the Indian retail market made by the brand, Mehta added: “Global Wool Alliance, the parent company of Georgia Gullini, has been operating since a few years within the Indian market in the B-to-B space predominantly as a manufacturer supplying suiting material to other clothing brands. To launch Georgia Gullini within the consumer space in India, the Italian label was bought outright by Global Wool Alliance and, therefore, the brand was not required to do significant groundwork as both the brands were established in their own right.”
Mehta confirmed that currently Indian operation forms 9 percent of its international network, which is expected to grow to 15 percent by the end of 2014 fiscal year. Currently, the brand is retailed through Suvidha, Babubhai Jagjiwandas, and Kachins in Mumbai; SVT in Bangalore; Meena Bazaar in Hyderabad; and Jade Blue in Ahmedabad amongst others.
