We want to expand into tier II and III towns: Sumit Dhingra

Celebrating its 25 years of its existence in India, Arrow,the American menswear brand from Arvind Fashions Limited has launched its exclusive revamped store in Mumbai. The brand has turned into a new concept store that resonate brand’s core value of ‘expert craftsmanship’to life. The store celebrates Arrow’s glorious heritage, its roots in New York and its expertise in shirt making. The company is taking this concept forward with refurbishing its existing 40 stores with this new identity. It is also planning to open 55 stores this year with the same concept across tier II and III towns in country. Talking about the brands future plan on retail expansion, omni-channel presence, product expansion, ROI and YOY growth Sumit Dhingra, COO – Heritage Brands Division, Arvind Fashions Limited spoke to Indianretailer.com on the sideline of launching of this exclusive store at High Street Phoenix in Mumbai. 

What is unique with this Arrows revamped store here at Phoenix in Mumbai?

We have commissioned this first store in Skyzone, Phoenix and we are celebrating our 25 years of entering in India. This 1000-1200 sqft store is recreated with the sole aim of bringing the brand’s core value of ‘expert craftsmanship’to life. The store celebrates our glorious heritage,our roots in New York and our expertise in shirt making.

In today’s retail environment, customer’s purchase decisions are highly influenced by the store ambience and experience. We are delighted to present the new ARROW store design, which celebrates the brand’s strong legacy of dressing professionals for the last 167 years. Going forward, we believe it is vital that every ARROW store must reflect the brand ethos.

Why have you chosen this location?

Because, Arrow operates in work wear and Mumbai is always been a city of business happenings. SkyZone, Phoenix is one of the best malls and ours is one of the best locations. We cannot get better than that. In this store we have put in per square fit investment of Rs 5500.

What is your future plan of stores expansion?

Right now we have 250 stores and this year we will open 55 more stores- each spread over 1000-1200 sqft. We are taking this new concept of store to all the new stores that we are opening. We will be refurbishing our existing 40 stores with this new identity.

This year, in a major way, we want to expand into tier II and III towns such as Gorakhpur, Rohtak and Bhiwani among others. These will be the company owned as well as a lot of franchisee stores. Around 80 percent of our network expansion happens through our franchisee partners.

What will be your further focus on omni-channel presence?

Omni-channel is a big initiative which we started some years ago.We will keep continuing it and doubling down our focus on that. We have our own digital initiative called Nnnow.com,irrespective of whether you are buying in the store or from your house you can access the complete range of Arrow line.You can also see which store has particular size of the merchandise.It gives you seamless experience.

How is your traction online?

Online is the fastest growing channel for us for quite some time on the back of fast broadband and 4G revolution. Online we offer no price concession on same season merchandise but there will be discount on old season merchandise.

What is the ratio of accessories in your total sale?

Today our accessories sale is 5 percent of our total sale and we want to take it to 8 percent. Further we are focusing on footwear with re-launching it in a bigger way to strengthen our accessories portfolio further.

What is your target age group?

It is 25-40 years old professionals. We have sub-brand called Arrow New York which is sharper on fashion caters to younger professionals. Arrow Sports and mainline targets more mature consumers.

What is the ROI you are expecting from this store?

Most of the stores that we open give us ROI of 24 percent within first three years to our franchisee partners.

What is your year- on-year growth?

We are growing with 20 percent year-on-year and we want to sustain that for the next three to four years. Today bulk of our revenue comes from metros but going forward our focus will be on tier II and III towns. North, West and South regions of the country contributes equal to our revenue.Bulk of our further 55 stores will be penetrated into tier II and III cities across high street and malls.