Future Group exploring idea of renting clothes

Future Group, the country’s largest retailer, is reportedly planning to start renting clothes for occasion wear and sell second-hand clothes. This will make Future Group the first organised retailer to enter a market generally managed by local and unorganised stores, a business daily reported.



“Nothing is concrete as of now. We are just exploring this idea further,” Kishore Biyani, managing director of Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd and the group chief executive officer of Future Group, was quoted as saying in the report.



Biyani said the buying needs of Indian consumers relate to various occasions and festivities. According to an analyst from Angel Broking Ltd, there is an enormous market potential for renting clothes as Indians celebrate a series of festivals throughout the year and have extravagant marriages.



Renting and selling second-hand clothes is a burgeoning trend in the West, especially in the US and UK, and cater to a huge market. “Consumers generally hire everything from dresses and tuxedoes. This concept is very popular in the West,” said an analyst.





College students and mothers with small children generally buy clothes from second-hand stores as they save on cash. Renting clothes allows people to experience something they wouldn’t normally get to and let them keep up with changing trends without making the big financial commitment of buying, the analyst said.



Besides Big Bazaar, the $2-billion Future Group also owns Pantaloons, Centrals, Depots, E-Zone, Shoe factory, Top 10 and Aadhar in the retail space.


Source - iZine.in