Central seeking indian tie-up

The company yesterday also introduced a "new look" of S'fare products to boost the image of the international brand.

The new line-up has been launched to cater to young executives or first jobbers, aged between 25 and 35, who have a "smart and casual" lifestyle.

Central Trading recently signed a licensing agreement with the Cotton Council International to use its 100-per-cent cotton fibre and Cotton USA label. The move will help boost the credibility of the S'fare brand, particularly in export markets.

Winai Inthiraworanon, senior marketing manager for S'fare business, said the company saw great potential for its S'fare products to be promoted in markets abroad.

The company already exports S'fare men's apparel to many markets, including Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Laos, Burma, Singapore and Malaysia.

"We want to push the brand into new markets this year, including India, Vietnam and China," said Pichai Chirathivat, president of Central Marketing Group.

Pichai said the company was discussing with an Indian investor - with whom it has had a business relationship for almost 30 years - as part of its plan to find a distributor or joint venture partner with strong retail experience in India to market the S'fare products.

He said the negotiation with the potential partner would be concluded by the beginning of next year.

"We are studying to adjust the fitting and size of our S'fare products with the plan to export the products into Europe and the USA in the future," Pichai said.

He said that the company began exporting S'fare men's apparel last year and had achieved Bt150 million in export sales. Driven by new major markets, the company expects export sales to increase significantly this year to Bt250 million.

Winai said that for Thailand, the company will allocate about 6 per cent of domestic sales to marketing activities and roadshow events in major centres such as Chiang Mai, Nakhon Ratchasima, Udon Thani and Hat Yai to promote the new look of S'fare.