Franchising genes of the denim industry

In today’s world clothes maketh a man and brands make the clothes. There has been a tremendous growth in the denim wear industry in the last few years, established players have prospered and with it the prospects of franchising have improved. Badal Chowdhry, CEO, Numero Uno Clothing Ltd informed, “Denim industry has been growing at the rate of 20-35 per cent in the financial year 2009.”

Many factors are responsible for this growth. There is an increase in the spending capacity of people due to rise in their disposable income. The middle class also has started favouring brands. People of all age groups prioritise casual than formal wear due to the comfort factor. And another factor of the growing popularity of denim wear is due to the awareness and brand consciousness. Availability and easy accessibility of the renowned international brands is also an important factor for the popularity of denim wear.

On the other hand we can also say that the branded franchised units in the last couple of years in the Indian market have escalated because of the increasing number of customers buying the denim wear.  It’s not difficult to come across one of the branded outlets in the high footfall areas like shopping malls, high streets etc. The denim industry has still not reach the saturation, till now there are a lot of denim wear brands to tap into franchising to satisfy the ever growing denim wear lovers. Chowdhary further said, “Retail exclusive brand outlets (EBO), have multiple management controls and franchising is an important mode of management control.” It is not viable for the franchisor to start his outlets at distant places expecting to manage them. Therefore franchising is a helpful tool.

Franchising of denim wear can be seen as a wonderful business opportunity due to the fact that it is the most demanding business option. People seldom compromise on their dressing. Those who are brand addicted remain impervious to recession, lack of finances etc. According to Chowdhary, “Denim wear is the biggest recession resistant category in apparels. Recession resulted in realigning of retail expansion and increased the pool of potential franchisee.”

National & International players

Enhancement in fashion has led to brand awareness and this further has given rise to the national and international brands in denim wear. There are many international  players which have started franchising in India like Levis Strauss and Company, Tommy Hilfiger, Pepe, Lee, Lee Cooper, Gas etc. On the other hand domestic brands like Numero Uno, Killer Jeans, Flying Machine, Wrangler, Spykar, Koutons etc have also made a mark in the Indian market. All these brands fall under various categories like super premium, premium and so on according to their ranges. The price range of all the brands and with in the same brand differ to make it more convenient for the people from all classes to get into their branded pair of denim jeans.

As in all franchises some considerations have to be given to the location and interiors of the outlet. The outlet should preferably in shopping malls and high streets. The interiors should be carefully setup with advice from the franchisor. Another consideration in this sector is that the prospective franchisee should have some domain knowledge about apparels and denim wear to successfully run his outlet.

To conclude we can say that this is the most favourable time for taking a franchised outlet as the contemporary society is getting more inclined towards the informal denims than formal and Indian wear.