Levi Strauss, the marquee denim brand, has found the going tough in the in the lower end of the Indian market where Newport and Ruff n Tuff reign. And the volumes are in this ‘standard’ or sub-Rs 500 market. To make in-roads into this price sensitive, but huge volume market, Levi Strauss India is set to launch its global sub-brand, ‘Signature.’

Signature is a brand which the leading retail chain Wal-Mart is offering to its customers at a rock bottom price of $20 a piece in the global market. While in absolute rupee terms, $20 would translate to close to Rs 1,000 in the Indian context, Levi is trying to benchmark it about Rs 500, according to industry sources. Mr Shumone Jaya Chatterjee, general manager-marketing at Levi Strauss India refused to comment on the possible price line.

Sources say Wal-Mart has placed a global order of nearly 46 million units of Signature, which is being retailed since early this month. Levi Strauss had internationally seen volumes drop around 17% and had attributed this to a poor presence in the fast-growing standard denim wear segment.

Meanwhile, Levi Strauss India is also looking to increase its market share in the premium non-denim wear segment, through its Levi’s Sykes label. Currently, the company is said to have a 30-32% share in this Rs 375 crore market, and is looking to reach around 40- 45%, Mr Chatterjee said.

He said the response has been positive to this label and Levi Strauss is finetuning its retail strategy. It hopes to have Sykes wear available in over 300 outlets by the end of 2003.