Vying to be a Rs 500 crores brand by 2020, Trigger the popular denim brand is currently focusing on aggressive retail expansion and plans to come up with a range for girls this year under the Trigger brand name. The brand is a part of renowned denim fabric export house KG Denim. Elaborating on the retail strategy and other plans in the pipeline, N Rajgopalan, Director-Marketing, Trigger Apparel explains, “With afocus and thrust on India, we intend to create a presence in emerging towns where we are not present. We will be associating with aggressive partners in the non-represented area and initiate more MBO-driven business to win over more consumers.” He says, they don’t want to get into the women’s wear category but are open to getting some designing done on a freelance basis, “pay designers some royalty, and work out a range for young girls and women. This year, we may introduce women’s category under the Trigger umbrella,” he informs. In the next couple of months, the brand will enter into a pact with shirt manufacturers who want to retail their products under their brand name with Trigger’s retail associates. Trigger brand is synonymous with rough and trendy apparel. It was launched in 1995 in the value segment. “It was launched in line with market needs because there were very few domestic players at that time and international players were contemplating entering India either in the value segment or the volume segment,” Rajgopalan says. For KG Denims, Trigger was the first brand. It is a separate entity supported by KG Denims to develop the garment business. Trigger is now well-established across the country in all segments. “Years 1998 to 2001, was a period of downtrend for denim, for all companies. As a market it was going through corrections. Modern retail was emerging. So in the old trade we were selling through multi-brand outlets or the dealer network was there. And from 2002-03, we started moving towards exclusive outlets or the standalone concept, which was emerging in India,” states Rajgopalan. Adding further on how the retail presence grew across India, he said, “The brand is growing by the day in all major outlets in India. We are also consolidating ourselves in retail, which is driven by our franchisee partners. Our brand is a trade centric brand, so all our efforts and initiatives revolve around trade.” Trigger apparel line is divided in two slots – ‘Touch and Feel’ and ‘Singles’. Touch and Feel is a year round offering, while Singles is a designer led product showcasing the innovation and point of view of Trigger. The brand now looks forward to being the best solution provider for five pocket jeans. Trigger Apparels currently has 14 depots across the country and two distributors and two branch offices. A depot is manned by a clearing and forwarding agent (CFA). He manages the brand’s inventory and takes care of the supply chain at a regional level. He facilitates back end supply chain for that region. The brand has a network of 60 EBOs and 1,500 MBOs across the country. “We are planning to enter large format stores apart from expanding aggressively in Eastern India this year,” Rajgopalan sums up.Source: Fashion United
