Grasim eyes new retailing identity to add brand value

Prasanna Upadhyay

Mumbai, Aug 3: AV Birla group company Grasim has decided to acquire a new retailing identity to improve brand value and increase the sales volume of its fabric division.

The company wants to reposition the Grasim brand from its earlier staid image to a modern, future-oriented fabric backed by new products, said Grasim group, fabrics and apparel business, executive president, Vikram Rao. He said the company would convert its existing retail outlets to make them contemporary and give them a dynamic image.

As a test case, the first retail outlet to adorn the new look is the one at Flora Fountain in Mumbai. Next in the pipeline is Kolkatta followed by Chennai, Hyderabad and New Delhi. Depending on the response in Mumbai, other cities would be taken up, added Mr Rao.

The group has appointed European designer Jean Claude Pannegetti to design the outlet. “We want to shift from the conventional concept of retail outlets for fabric. We want the customers to feel free,” added Mr Rao. The company, in order to ensure ongoing growth and robust bottomline growth, has also announced continuous renewal of its brands to make sure that they are perceived as contemporary, in some cases, even ahead of time.

As a step towards realising this, the company is launching a new fabric in December this year. Mr Rao added that the new fabric would be priced in the region of Rs 450 to Rs 900 per metre. It would be targeted at executives for trousers and suits.

The company is also developing a lycra-based fabric. “We will launch it as soon as it is developed,” said Mr Rao. Though the company reported a marginal increase of 6 per cent in the fabric division’s sale in the last fiscal, the demand for suiting fabric has gone down. The over-the-counter retail market for suiting fabrics in the premium, as well as mid-priced suitings has been stagnant. A pronounced shift from tailor-made to ready-to-wear trousers, coupled with competition from smaller producers, has put pressure on volumes and realisation of the fabric division, the company said.