P N Rao bets big on southern market

With a near 100-year legacy behind it and a strong base in South India, P N Rao has set itself on a steady path of expansion.

The company has six stores across the country; five in Bengaluru and one in Chennai. With its second Chennai store set for launch within two months, the company plans to expand to 30 stores by 2023, the year P N Rao will complete 100 years. “All P N Rao stores are currently owned and run by the company. However, we now plan to experiment with the franchising model and plan a hub-and-spoke approach for each city,” said Naveen Pishe, Partner, P N Rao.

On the same lines, he said, the company will set up one flagship store and 3-4 smaller stores in each city along with a tailoring unit. “We plan to strengthen our presence in the South and Deccan region, in cities ranging from Cochin, Coimbatore and Hyderabad to Pune and Mumbai,” said Pishe. 

P N Rao currently boasts of a customer base of one lakh. “About 80% of our clients come from referrals and at least 38% are repeat customers. We want to scale that to 45% in the next two years. On the back of our expansion plans, we estimate the customer base to grow to 20 lakh in the next 5-7 years,”  he said.

P N Rao has launched three new fabrics from the house of Huddersfield, in the Indian market. Having launched the Huddersfield’s fresco, a light fabric suitable for travellers, especially during summers, P N Rao plans to sell at least 200 fresco jackets priced at Rs 10,000-12,000, through the season. With tuxedos in vogue, the company plans to sell 500 metres of its new super black fabric, another Huddersfield speciality, in the next six months. A super black suit is priced at about Rs 20,000.

Robert McAuley, President, HMS Corporation (the company that holds Huddersfield), said, “The super black is made of 100% wool and is our No.1 selling fabric. Of the five million meters of fabric we sell in a year, super black takes up 50,000 meters.” He further added that the company is developing a special fabric that is of wool and silk blend, as per P N Rao’s requirements, which it plans to launch in July this year. Present in 36 countries and known for its high-performance fabrics, Huddersfield has its largest markets in the US, China and India.