Future Group's private labels to go National

While private label brands have largely been perceived as cheaper alternatives to establish brands, there is a sudden reversal of trends. Future Group`s Big Bazaar is planning to take some of its private brands national. Rajan Malhotra, CEO of Big Bazaar says, “Our apparel brand DJNC, which is a Rs. 200 crore plus brand will go national by the end of this month. The idea is to have the brand, already strong, to stand on its own.” Malhotra estimates that DJNC has the potential to be a Rs. 500 crore plus brand by next year. The youth-oriented unisex brand will sell shirts, trousers, cargos, jeans, etc., under its name, with the message of Alag ho, alag dikho. National rollout plans for John Miller have already started while Bare is next on the anvil. Knighthood, another value brand is set to go national in some time as well. Explaining the criteria considered before extending a private label into a national one, Malhotra says, “We have to see whether the brand in question is a mass or a niche brand. DJNC is in great demand. With close to 60 per cent of the country`s population below 27 years of age and good performance of the brand over the last couple of years, it was a perfect brand to take national.” Santosh Desai, CEO and managing director of Future Brands, says, “the mandate is to create national brands, beginning with the brands we have within our store. The way we go about it is, we first have a launch within the stores and then extend the brands outside.” 14 brands in the categories of Apparel, consumer durables, home improvement and food have moved into Future Brands “The brands that we are pushing nationally are those, which have a certain volume, which we try to leverage to create portfolio brands,” he adds. The purpose is to build these into strong independent brands that can be retailed through other retail outlets as well. Some of these brands are John Miller, Lombard, DJNC, Bare, Koryo, Sensi, Premium Harvest and Dreamline.