Date:31/03/2004 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/03/31/stories/2004033101360600.htm

Back Lee Cooper eyewear, innerwear to hit shelves by end April

K.R. Srivats

New Delhi , March 30

LEE Cooper innerwear and eyewear products will hit the Indian market by April end this year. Indus Clothing, the licensee of the UK-based denim and casual wear brand Lee Cooper, is foraying into two new product categories - innerwear and eyewear — under the `Lee Cooper' brand.

Indus Clothing, which is into jeanswear and other fashion accessories, is hoping to double its turnover over the next 3-4 years from the present level of about Rs 50 crore. To increase the availability of its products across the country, the company plans to put in place as many as 30 exclusive Lee Cooper stores by 2005. It currently has eight exclusive Lee Cooper stores.

"Both innerwear and eyewear are going to be brand extensions for us. Each will be a standalone business unit. The products under both the categories would be imported into India," Mr Harpartap Singh, Managing Director, Indus Clothing Ltd, told Business Line here.

While innerwear products would be imported from Israel, Greece and Turkey, eyewear products for the Indian market are likely to be sourced from Hong Kong or China.

Mr Singh claimed that Lee Cooper would be offering international quality innerwear and eyewear products to the Indian customer at "affordable prices" on the lines of its jeanswear.

While eyewear products are expected to be in the price range of Rs 950 to about Rs 1,500, the innerwear products are likely to be in the Rs 250-Rs 700 range.

As regards the retail distribution strategy, Mr Singh held that changing customer preferences is now forcing Indus Clothing to focus energies on exclusive stores.

"We had moved away from exclusive stores towards large format stores. But now many of our customers want services and interaction, which can easily be provided through exclusive stores rather than the large format stores or malls," Mr Singh said.

He also said that Lee Cooper would soon be launching its innerwear and eyewear products in the UK and other European markets.