GTN Industries, a vertically integrated yarns, fabrics and apparels group and a market leader in 100 per cent cotton PIMA & GIZA mercerised single fibre Polo shirts and formal dress socks, has announced its plans to boost its branded apparels market leadership by bringing ëCotstyle’ business into Cotstyle Apparels Ltd.
Cotstyle Apparels plans to invest more than Rs. 200 million in its world-class mercerised cotton garment facilities to support its new growth strategy. Cotstyle Apparels sells 50,000 units of Cotstyle Single Fibre single and double mercerized cotton in more than 750 stores spread across major cities. The focus is to increase its presence in many cities across the country to meet the growing needs of its retail partners and consumers as well as increase its store footprint from the current level of 750 to 1,200 stores.
ìWe want to unlock the huge growth potential of Cotstyle Apparels in the domestic marketî, Mr. M.K. Patodia, Chairman & Managing Director of GTN Industries Group, said. ìOur new strategy is in line with our ambitious growth plan for Cotstyle mercerized line of Polo shirts and socks. This shift will also bring marketing focus, consistency and simplicity as consumer acceptance and demand for our business casual collections in the niche single fibre product markets continue to propel.î
Cotstyle Apparels plans to invest more than Rs. 200 million in its world-class mercerised cotton garment facilities to support its new growth strategy. The overall investment by the group is Rs. 350 million. It has 90,000 spindles spread across Hyderabad and Nagpur. The group has yarn mercerising unit in Shadnagar and fabric processing unit at Indiranagar near Hyderabad. The knitting facilities are located at Isnapur and garment-making in Patancheru and Balanagar, all in and around Hyderabad.
ìDomestic market growth will be a major focus area for Cotstyle. We are confident consumers in the domestic market will find tremendous clothing value in Cotstyle, as our apparels are made from the best cottons from all over the world ñ Egyptian Giza and American Pima. We make very fine yarn, and our body-friendly single fibre cotton is our unique selling proposition or USPî, Mr. Patodia added.
Cotstyle Apparels has also announced its Spring Summer Collections 2012. It expects its brand new solids to striped Spring Summer Collections will spin sales volumes of Cotstyle mercerized Polo shirts and socks by 50 per cent as more stores begin to sell the range of apparels. The Men’s Collection will include luxury mercerised cotton polo shirts, Pima and Giza cotton knitwear in a range of colours, including a new collection of stylish and modern colour palettes which will not only look good but also feel good.
The Cotstyle garment unit has the capacity to manufacture 2,00,000 units per year. ìWe may expand this capacity based on the market response in the next few yearsî, said Mr. Patodia.
Cotstyle Apparels operates in a niche market and does not see any competition in its segment as the other players in the market are mainly brand-focused and not process-centric like Cotstyle. Currently, Cotstyle makes Polo shirts and formal dress socks. The major export markets include Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the US and Canada. The brand is equally dominant in Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.
The company plans to tap new export markets, including the UK, Ireland and South American markets. It also plans to launch its branded stores in select cities.
