Textile and apparel manufacturer Raymond is planning to enter the ethnic wear and footwear category by end of October, Gaurav Mahajan, president, group apparel, said on the sidelines of India Retail Forum.
He said that the company is planning to enter new categories and increase its product assortments to tap growth in these segments. In footwear ,the company would focus on both made-to-measure as well as readymade stuff.
According to Arvind Singhal, chairman, Technopak, “Ethnic wear brands in the country like Fabindia, Biba, W among others are very successful as demand is strong in this category and Raymond is also likely to benefit from it. However, I am not too sure about the growth in footwear category.”
The company is in the process of revamping its existing 1,000 Raymond Shop stores to Raymond Store of the Future, as it plans to digitise the stores with more smart features like providing tab to customers inside the store to browse the entire collection available.
The company has also shut around 10 loss making stores in the last one year, Mahajan said.
The group owns apparel brands like Raymond, Raymond Premium Apparel, Park Avenue, Park Avenue Woman, ColorPlus and Parx.
Raymond’s net loss in Q1 FY17 widened to Rs 16.61 crore from a net loss of Rs 14.47 crore during the same period last year. Consolidated total income from operations during the period was up 4.81% year-on-year to Rs 1,057.36 crore.
