Arvind Lifestyle banks on kidswear to push sales

Arvind Lifestyle, which recently launched a kidswear retail format, will open 40 stores over the next four years and expects at least 15 per cent of its total sales to come from this segment by 2018.
The Children's Place' is positioned as a mass premium brand and the outlets will be opened in tier II and III cities besides metros, a top company executive said today.
"Kidswear will be a significant contributor to our growth," J Suresh Managing Director and Chief Executive of Arvind Lifestyle Brands told PTI here today.
"Our ambition is to reach Rs 5,000 crore in sales by 2018, and we expect 15 per cent of this to come from the kidswear segment," he added.

The Children's Place will play the largest role for Arvind to achieve this, Suresh said.
Arvind plans to open 40 stores and 60 shop-in-shops in four years. This fiscal, the company expects to open 3-4 standalone stores and about six shop-in-shops.

According to industry estimates, the kidswear market in India is pegged at Rs 50,000 crore, of which a large portion is fragmented and unorganised.
"Kidswear today is what menswear was 15 years ago. Kidswear will also have to go through its cycle of evolution," Suresh said.
The Children's Place will contribute about 50 per cent of Arvind's kidswear sales going forward, he said.

"We have other children's wear brands, including GapKids, babyGap, and US Polo, which will constitute the remaining 50 per cent," Suresh said.
The company has partnered Shoppers Stop for an exclusive shop-in-shop format of The Children's Place, as well as online children's retailer hopscotch.In.
"We will see how it goes, and take it forward with other online retailers," Suresh said.
"We will open stores in the large metros, and the idea is to also get into smaller towns where there is aspirational value and disposable income," he added.