India : Pantaloon Enters Into Licensing Agreement With Norules

Pantaloon, under the agreement, will have the right to use youth characters such as One Eye Jack, Blick, Justin, Jill and Billy, which form part of the Norules brand. Norules, globally, is mainly present in sportswear and accessories such as toys, hats, buckets and caps. Pantaloon is planning to launch the Norules brand in India by May ‘03.

“There is a huge potential for youthwear products in India. There are no established players in this segment. The acquisition of Norules will help us to gain a major foothold in the youthwear segment,” said Rakesh Biyani, director, Pantaloon Retail (India). Industry sources said that duplicate versions of Norules brand is available in the domestic unorganised market.

Pantaloon may have acquired the licensing rights due to the brand name’s familiarity in the Indian market.

In addition to the US, Norules is present in overseas markets such as Australia, Hongkong, Singapore, Philippines, Canada and the UK. Norules is mainly pitted against Betty Boop in the US market. Indian apparel companies are now targeting the growing kidswear and youthwear market which are dominated by unorganised players.

Pantaloon recently acquired the licensing rights for Popeye and Disney characters. The company has already launched the Popeye and Disney kidswear brands in the market. Popeye’s associated characters such as Baby Popeye, Brutus, Olive Oyl and Wimpy are used in the products. Similarly, Bangalore-based apparel maker Jaygee Clothing controls the licensing rights for the Mickey Mouse characters. Total size of the domestic youthware market is nearly Rs 150 crore.

Industry sources said Indian players are bringing the global kidswear and youthwear brands into India mainly due to lack of expertise. The companies are also leveraging on the popularity of the characters associated with global brands.