It’s a one-stop world

Both Planet Sports and Kidz Station cater to all sports and kids' needs under one roof

by Upasana Pande

WITH the concept of retailing on the upsurge in the country, one-stop stores have become the order of the day. Cashing in on this sentiment is Planet Sports, a mulit-brand sports, leisure and lifestyle store, becoming the first of its kind to offer all the leading international brands under one roof. The store offers a huge range of lifestyles and sports products ranging from footwear and sports to casual apparel and equipment from the world’s most recognised brands.

Dwelling on the idea behind the genesis of the store, Mr Pradeep Shekhawat, country manager, Planet Sports India Private Ltd, says, “There was a vacuum in the Indian markets when it came to leisure products. So we decided to fill this space through the Planet Sports.” Be it Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Converse or Skechers all are stocked strategically to get their due attention. Encompassing all categories from sports, fitness, casual shoes for men as well as women, the Reebok range is priced between Rs 990 to Rs 6,000. Nike shoes costs anywhere between Rs 1,200 to Rs 5,000, while Adidas bares a competitive price range of Rs 1,200 to Rs 4,500. While Converse, which is available only in the casual wear category starts at Rs 579 and can go up to Rs 1,600, Skechers begin at a higher end from Rs 1,400 to Rs 4,000.

“The store also offers a range of sports bags available between Rs 2,000 to Rs 8,000, which come with an exclusive 30 years warranty,” says Mr Shekhawat. Products, like the Kipling bag (trolley-cum-sports bag), have a lifetime warranty and can cost anywhere between Rs 1,200 to Rs 8,500 depending on the size.

“One third of our sales come from footwear and another third from sports equipment,” he says. A badminton and lawn tennis racket of Wilson can cost anything between Rs 2,199 and Rs 19,999. Golfing equipment are priced between Rs 30,000 and Rs 38, 000 for the Wilson brand and between Rs 19,000 and Rs 25,000 for Spalding.

The store is currently focussing on niche sports like tennis, golf, swimming, basketball and badminton. It also plans to look at cricketing equipment in the near future. With outlets in Delhi, Mumbai and Jaipur, it is planning to expand in Pune, Chennai and Bangalore as well.

With the customer response to the one-stop sports store being positive, the company has started a similar store for kids, called Kidz Station. “Kidz Station is a concept designed to meet the dreams and aspirations of young kids and teenagers,” he says.

Targeted primarily at the growing kids market segment, this store is divided into nine theme zones each catering to different needs. It starts with a section dedicated to toddlers up to four years of age. The soft toys section, called the adoption tree, houses varied soft toys from teddies to elephants. This is followed by the cartoon section which has apparels, toys and bags with print or design of Disney characters on it. Doll house is meant for girls who have a fascination from Barbies to Madeline puppets along with the accessories. Guns, games sets and mega blocks form a part of the E-kidz section. For those who love fighting with Batmans and Power-Rangers there is the action heroes section for them. The collectibles section is dedicated to the die heart fans of cars with a range of cars from Hot Wheels to Hornby toy trains. The hobby craft and the stationery island, as the names suggest, is meant for hobby craft and stationery items.

The first Kidz Station is located in south Delhi with five more branches all over India in the pipeline.

“We intend to invest Rs 15 to 20 crore this year to open 15 more outlets of Planet Sport stores and five of Kidz station,” informs Mr Shekhawat.