Arvind Mills unveils billion-dollar transformation plans

13 May 2008

Mumbai: Flagship company of the Rs2,000-crore Ahmedabad-based Lalbhai group, Arvind Mills, has announced a business transformation that places a stronger retail focus for its branded apparel from being a pure fabric and apparel maker. It has also announced a new corporate identity renaming the world's second largest denim maker and owner of popular apparel brands, to Arvind Ltd.

The company says the image makeover would reflect a strong diversified business group with a focus on branded apparel and apparel retail.

Sanjay Lalbhai, chairman and managing director of Arvind Ltd, says the company will emerge a billion-dollar enterprise by 2009-10 and to do so it wants to get closer to the customer with a new portfolio of fabrics and designs. "We will soon be in newer markets with our fabric portfolio that will include protective and functional fibres," Lalabhai says.

Accordingly, the company has revamped its strategy to create a more customer-oriented business with a deliberate focus on shifting to the customer segment with a stronger presence in the own-brand retail sector taking its apparel and specialty fabrics direct to the customer, all aimed at growing to become the largest apparel brand in the country. The company is developing a direct retailing initiative for its fabrics range to establish a direct reach to premium customers. In the industrial segment, it will focus on the performance wear category for work wear and industrial application fabrics.

In the apparel segment Arvind will focus on enhancing its own brands as well as growing the global brands through partnerships. The company already owns strong domestic brands like Flying Machine, Newport, Excalibur and Ruf & Tuf and is an international licenses of Lee, Wrangler, Arrow and Tommy Hilfiger. Arvind has set a 40-per cent cumulative annual growth rate for its own brands and for the licenced brands.

Lalabhai says the the company will drive new growth with a triple strategy -  rework its fabric portfolio to include both performance and protective fibres; transform itself from a pure fabric and apparel maker to a diversified business group across the textile value chain with a focus on branded apparel and; a major boost to its retail business by pushing aggressively into tier II and tier III cities.