A series of franchise pacts signed
In a paradigm shift to expand its retail footprint, Siyaram Silk Mills Ltd. has embarked upon a big retail expansion plan by inking 27 franchise agreements in the first two months out of the targeted 90 for 2013-14. The good response from the trade fraternity has encouraged the company to take its current franchise tally of 120 outlets to 500 outlets by 2016-17.
“Unlike food or health retail franchise, apparel retailing is not perishable and the logistics does not hamper the product quality. Hence apparel or textile franchise has the higher return on investment with low repayment time compared to other franchise segments,” said Mrs. Megha Poddar, Director, Siyaram Silk Mills Ltd. The expansion is expected to drive the company’s high margin revenues from this segment to Rs. 60 crores annually in 2013-14 from the current level of Rs. 35 crores.
She said: “On an average the franchisee has to invest Rs. 25 lakhs for interior works as well as for inventory with minimum space requirement being 800 square feet. Moreover, we see a lot of interest in our franchisee model with budding entrepreneurs willing to invest Rs. 25-50 lakhs in our value enhancing retail model.”
As part of retail expansion, the company is also in the process of revamping and redesigning its outlet to give a new look and feel to its discerning customers. While the renewed focus is on the franchisee model, the company will continue with its conventional model of agent, distributor down to the multi-brand outlet (MBO) model for disseminating its product portfolio.
The general market trend is towards shifting from multi-brand outlet to exclusive brand outlet, though textile retailing has always thrived at multi-brand outlets in the past, Mrs. Poddar added.
Today Siyaram Silk Mills operates of 2,00,000 MBOs across the country serviced through the conventional model of agents, distributors and wholesalers.
Siyaram Silk Mills is the country’s largest producer of blended high fashion suitings, shirtings and apparels. The leader in business for over three decades with an unparalleled network of 100,000 retailers and over 600 dealers pan-India, it has its sales force of over 400 dedicated employees. Siyaram’s belief in providing value to its customers is the reason behind its having the widest range of latest machinery in its eco-friendly plants at Tarapur, Daman and Mumbai.