Beginnings are usually small. Every giant corporate that we read as a successful case study today, started from a small office someday. Spykar Jeans is no exception.
The Spykar Story started way back in 1992, when Mr. Prasad Pabrekar, led by his vision and ambition, ventured into fashion apparels by starting Span Apparels Pvt. Ltd to make use of his vast repertoire of technical knowledge of processing Denim garments. Today, Denim are in the core of the company’s business. This has been facilitated by the company’s in-house processing unit and gives the company a competitive edge in consistently producing denim of international quality.
As India adopted Western fashion styles in the last 2 decades, Jeans emerged as one of the most versatile clothing options. From metros to rural areas, donning a pair of jeans became common and a style symbol among several age groups. Whether it is work, college or family gatherings, and parties, jeans can be worn everywhere.
Giving Global Brands, a Run for their Money
Several Brands offer their label of jeans in India. The most popular ones include Levis, Lee, Wrangler, Pepe Jeans, etc. But these are all international brands. Among Indian denim brands, Spykar Lifestyle stands out as one of the largest and fastest-growing brands here. Since 1992 the brand, over the years, has been through thick and thin in the Indian market.
As mentioned, Mumbai-based Spykar started small in 1992. But as time progressed, it transformed into one of the larger players, thanks to Sanjay Vakharia, CEO, Spykar Lifestyle. It has now become a common name among Denim enthusiasts and a leading casual wear brand with a focus on hi-fashion denims. The home-grown brand now competes directly with its foreign counterparts.
The Growth and Expansion Plan
Spykar products are available PAN India across 250 exclusive outlets, in more than 1,000 multi-brand outlets, large format stores as well as e-commerce sites. The brand offers casual topwear, bottom-wear, and accessories like backpacks, flip-flops, perfumes, wallets, deodorants, etc through these exclusive outlets. It is planning to expand its retail footprint by adding more stores in metro markets and open Newer ones in tier-2 and tier-3 cities to take the total store count to over 350 by 2020-21.
Besides, the company is working on expanding presence in online space and is evaluating the options to create a special line to address the millennials. “Our plan is to add 35-40 stores a year. We would be over 350 stores by 2020-21 fiscal,” Spykar Lifestyles CEO Sanjay Vakharia.
“There is a lull in the economic environment at the moment, but Spykar has managed to up the ante for the brand and has achieved a phenomenal 20 percent growth in the current financial year,” says Sanjay. “Spykar’s customer sales grew from Rs 460 crore in FY 2016-17 to Rs 550 crore in FY 2017-18.”
This year, the company plans to touch Rs 700 crore and continue growing at a fast rate. Sanjay maintains that Spykar has sustained growth despite being affected by major challenges such as demonetisation and GST.
To boost investments into the company, Spykar in 2014 became part of the Bagri family promoted Metdist Group, a diversified portfolio of companies. This UK-based conglomerate focuses on fashion, hospitality, technology and metals industries.
Future plans
How do you build a future for a brand which caters to youngsters? The young customers don’t inherently know what they want and can be easily swayed by trends.
Despite the challenges from competition and Online, Spykar is looking to expand. “We aim to have our shop-in-shops and multi-brand outlets spread across 500 towns. We also hope to have our standalone stores spread to 200 cities soon,” Sanjay says.
To do this, the company plans to add around 30 to 40 exclusive brand stores a year. It also seeks to simultaneously strengthen its presence on e-commerce platforms. “The womenswear segment will also contribute in a noticeable way in the coming years. In terms of the product line, we are also getting into the denim athleisure space,” he says.
