Berjaya Retail to open more boutiques

Fashion apparel distributor Berjaya Retail Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Berjaya Group Bhd, is in talks with three major shopping malls in the Klang Valley to open boutiques carrying its Motivi label.

Berjaya Retail executive director Francis Lee said the company was in talks with the management of Midvalley Megamall, Suria KLCC and Sunway Pyramid to open the boutiques.

He was speaking at the Motivi, Caractere and Oxbow celebrities signing ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 4 where Berjaya Retail officially unveiled its three brand ambassadors for the labels.

Berjaya Retail Sdn Bhd executive director Francis Lee flanked by brand ambassadors for Italian labels Motivi, Caractere and Oxbow. The ambassadors are (from left to right): model Natasha Hudson, 8TV veejay Marion Caunter and NTV7 stalwart Jojo Struys

The three are local celebrities Marion Caunter, Jojo Struys and Natasha Hudson, who were selected from a field of 24 candidates. They will carry out functions as brand ambassadors for one year.

Berjaya Retail is the Malaysian distributor of the three labels, with one Caractere Boutique, two Motivi Boutiques and three Oxbow outlets in the Klang Valley.

Lee said the company had plans within the next six months to open a few more boutiques for its existing three brands, and that it was in the midst of several negotiations to increase the number of brands in its stable.

"Our revised sales target for the first year ending April 2006 is between RM5 million and RM6 million. We are on track to achieving our planned number of outlets in the Klang Valley, which makes our sales target realistic," he said.

He said by end-December 2005, sales generated would be about RM3 million.

Lee said Berjaya Retail wanted to consolidate its business and create greater awareness for its labels before venturing out of the Klang Valley.

He said Berjaya Retail would allocate between 5% and 6% of its annual sales turnover to advertising and promotion activities, including the setting up of billboards and print advertisements.

The three brands have, in the pipeline, several promotional activities lined up in the coming 12 months.

"With the publicity the brand ambassadors are going to generate in these events, we can expect greater awareness and purchases of Motivi, Caractere and Oxbow apparel to further increase," said Lee.