Women''s wear brand ''W'' to be sold through Reliance Retail
30 Aug 2007
New Delhi: ''W'', the premium ready-to-wear women''s wear brand, is actively looking to expand its presence in the market, and plans to invest Rs50 crore over the coming two-year period to secure an even more visible pan-India presence.
According to ''W'' CEO Vijay Mishra, the brand ''W'' has been moving ahead rapidly since its establishment in 2002, and has been able to carve a niche for itself in the ready-to-wear segment by building on its innovative styling that couples international fashion trends with day-to-day functionality.
''W'' intends to change its brand positioning from the contemporary Indian woman fusion wear, to a more fashion oriented position, one which changing with fashion trends.
CEO Mishra says that over the past few years, the company''s understanding of its target audience, the contemporary Indian woman, has revealed needs for more than just fusion wear that the company caters to with its present line-up.
The contemporary Indian woman needs to be trendy, and at par with the current trends. ''W'' is actively addressing the increasing demand as identified by its understanding of its target market, and has decided to extensively increase its presence in India as a complete wardrobe solution for the contemporary Indian woman.
The company plans to expand its retail presence to 200 points of sale, spread across 30 cities, including 45 exclusive brand stores across 25 cities.
Its expansion plans have seen the company enter into the budget ethnic women''s wear segment through its brand Weve. ''W'' has also entered into an alliance with Reliance Retail to market Weve via the retail giant''s hypermarket and speciality format stores.
For ''W'', the advantage of partnering with Reliance is significant savings on money, retail space and logistics, freeing up resources to focus its energies on developing the brand. Weve will not have any standalone stores, and will only be marketed through Reliance Retail''s stores.
The brand plans to cover around 250 sq ft of the Reliance''s store floor space in smaller cities, and plans for its in-shop presence to cover around 450 sq ft in bigger cities.
Weve''s price points range from Rs250 to Rs495, as it is targeted at the middle class modern woman. The second phase of brand development will see the addition of accessories and other additions to Weve''s product line.
