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Tag: fashion retail

  • Levi’s Expands India Store Footprint and Women’s Wear to Chase Global Sales Target

    Levi’s Expands India Store Footprint and Women’s Wear to Chase Global Sales Target

    Levi Strauss & Co. Is expanding retail floor space across major Indian cities, targeting higher-margin women’s apparel and non-denim categories to fuel regional revenue growth.

    The apparel maker recently crossed 500 stores in India, which now ranks among its top six markets globally. Rather than simply adding shop fronts, the company is increasing the square footage of existing and new locations in metros including Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Delhi, alongside secondary hubs such as Chandigarh, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Chennai.

    Direct-to-consumer sales through its larger ICON store format now generate approximately 20 per cent of the brand’s India DTC revenue. Hiren Gor, managing director for South Asia, Middle East, and Africa at Levi Strauss & Co., noted that adding retail space in high-performing locations delivers equivalent commercial returns to opening separate doors.

    Category Shift Toward Women and Tops

    Consumer buying habits in India are diverging sharply from global denim baselines. Indian shoppers purchase more than one top for every bottom, compared to a global average of one top for every three bottoms sold.

    Demand patterns reflect that split. While both denim and non-denim lines are expanding at mid-double-digit rates, women’s apparel is advancing at high double digits. The company’s upscale casual line, Red Loop, now accounts for roughly 15 per cent of its Indian menswear sales, also expanding at a high double-digit pace.

    Supply chain localization underpins the category push. More than 95 per cent of the products Levi’s sells in India are manufactured domestically, supported by an in-house design team of 10 that creates 85 per cent of its product range specifically for the local market.

    Direct Retailing and Regional Reach

    International fashion labels in South Asia have routinely faced floor space constraints when attempting to sell complete lifestyle collections rather than single staple items. Shifting capital expenditure into large-format direct retail allows multinational brands to show complete lines, capture higher basket values, and protect margin against wholesale discount cycles.

    Parent group Levi Strauss & Co. Recorded $6.3 billion in global revenue for fiscal year 2025. The company is leaning on higher square footage and expanded apparel assortments in India to close the gap toward its stated $10 billion global revenue target.

  • Downsizing and decluttering will ‘remake retail’

    Downsizing and decluttering will ‘remake retail’

    There’s a new consumer mantra: “when in doubt, toss it out”.

    With pressure on housing internationally, shoppers are buying fewer higher-quality items to save space – and that’s is expected to have long-term ramifications for retailers, says a new report.

    Decluttering: Anatomy of a Consumer Trend and How Retailers Can Win, from international think tank Fung Global Retail & Technology says while for some people downsizing and organising belongings is a matter of choice, for others the process is a necessity as rising housing prices force people to live in smaller homes, says the report.

    Others are focussing on sustainability and the ethical standards of manufacturers, writes Fung Global Retail & Technology MD Deborah Weinswig. Retailers, especially those in fast fashion that have relied on consumers buying a larger number of lower-priced items, will have to adapt to changing consumer needs and values.

    “Consumers’ future priorities will be ethics, a concept of ‘disownership’ and sustainability,” Weinswig writes. “Retailers … should align their product and service offerings more closely within the values of their target customers.”

    While the idea of having with fewer possessions has been around for centuries, the term “declutter” was born in the 1970s and the concept has continued to gain popularity, she writes. Decluttering resonates particularly strongly with urban dwellers, who struggle to fit belongings into small apartments.

    Now millennials, the largest generation in history, are more consciously frugal in terms of living arrangements, product consumption and travel expenses. The growth of the “sharing economy” has also resulted in the popularity of platforms such as eBay, Etsy and Craigslist, further eroding the purchase of new products.

    Long-term results

    Weinswig believes this will have long-term results for more traditional retailers and brands, especially in clothing. Fast fashion had helped apparel consumption skyrocket over previous decades. The average woman owned 120 items of clothing last year, up from 36 items in 1930, according to Cladwell, a company that helps users create their own capsule wardrobe. However, this trend may be reversing. A growing focus on ethical consumption has created consumer concern about hiring practices – sometimes involving children – in fast-fashion manufacturing.

    Some retailers are responding to the evolving preferences of shoppers. Patagonia’s Common Threads initiative provides a framework for responsible consumption based on five precepts: reduce, repair, reuse, recycle and reimagine. Japanese retailer Muji offers waste-reducing packaging, minimalist housewares and eco-friendly products.

    Other brands espousing minimalism include Scandinavia’s Bang & Olufsen and Cos, Calvin Klein in the US, and Japan’s Uniqlo.

    “Decluttering is a long-term trend that is here to stay,” Weinswig writes. “Retailers can capitalise on this opportunity by responding to the evolving preferences of their customers, and seeking ways to influence consumer behaviour.”

    Based in New York, Fung Global Retail & Technology has a research team across New York, London and Hong Kong that follows retail and tech trends. Weinswig is a former Wall Street and retail tech analyst and startup adviser.

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  • Losses force Esprit to downsize

    Losses force Esprit to downsize

    Following a first half loss of HK$238 million (US$30.6 million), fashion retailer Esprit plans to prune unprofitable outlets while improving productivity.

    “In the very short term, we will continue to see the closure of unprofitable spaces from our retail store network and our wholesale partners’ points of sale,” the company says in its interim results announcement. It expects these actions will help group turnover remain stable although it may be reduced.

    During the six months, the company posted a 13 per cent dip in sales to HK$9.31 billion. It says the losses are partly the result of the unfavourable impact of the euro depreciating against the Hong Kong dollar.
    With a loss per share of 12 cents, the directors did not declare an interim dividend.

    Meanwhile, the company has seen positive retail sales growth through both online and offline channels, particularly in Europe. Its challenges lie in its wholesale business, currency risks and lower performance in Asia.
    It says the underperformance in the Asia-Pacific region was partly attributable to a combination of volatility in the financial markets, the economic slowdown in China and the devaluation of the yuan, which significantly dampened consumer sentiment.

    Esprit’s largest geographic market, Germany, had HK$4.44 billion turnover, representing year-on-year growth of 1.5 per cent. For the rest of Europe the turnover of $3.38 billion was down from $3.92 billion of the previous year’s second half. Turnover in Asia Pacific amounted to $1.42 billion, a year-on-year drop of 6 per cent.
    Esprit says it faces challenges ahead with volatility in the financial markets and economic uncertainty that could further dampen consumer sentiment, especially in Asia. And if the euro continues to be weak, it would put pressure on the group’s gross profit margin.

    Meanwhile, the group is expecting an estimated net gain of about $725 million from the sale of six wholly owned property subsidiaries in Hong Kong, a deal finalised in December. Once the sales is settled, the group plans to lease back most of the properties.

    Also the group has introduced efficiencies in its product development and supply chain processes, as well as developing a “more ambitious” commercial strategy using an omnichannel model. It has been using an intensive brand-marketing campaign since September to strengthen and rejuvenate its image.

    Already it has seen positive sales performances, plus increased customer loyalty and better online and mobile sales.

    “Driving these productivity gains further remains our top priority in the near term,” says the company, noting an increase to 49 per cent of eCommerce sales by mobile devices and a 92 per cent growth in smartphone sales.

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