Coimbatore soft silk and Kora, organic cotton sarees from Vadambacherry, Woraiyur cotton, Dindigul cotton, Kanchi silk, linen shirts and home textile items are among the collections at the boutique opened by Co-optex here on Thursday.
The 1,100-sq ft outlet on Crosscut Road has silk sarees from Rs. 900 to Rs. 24,000.
“The aim is to showcase a wide variety of sarees. Majority of the weaves of Tamil Nadu are available at the outlet,” said the Managing Director of Co-optex T.N. Venkatesh.
Co-optex opened its first boutique in November last year in Chennai. The second one is in Coimbatore and two more will be opened in Kochi and New Delhi by the end of March. The State Government has given Rs. 30 lakh for each boutique under the Tamil Nadu Innovation Initiatives. Customers can feel and choose the products at the boutiques and the focus is on women’s wear, he said.
The outlets will attract customers in the age group of 25 to 35 years. Co-optex has tied-up with designers who have passed out of National Institute of Design for design inputs. In Chennai, cash sales during Pongal increased by 15 per cent because of the boutique.
“We expect 20 per cent to 30 per cent increase in sales during 2016-2017 because of the four boutiques,” Mr. Venkatesh said.
Co-optex will organise about 35 exhibitions (Cool Comfort Expos) till mid-June across the country. Pongal sales this year were Rs. 4.5 crore higher than last year at Rs. 73.4 crore. The organisation is looking at Rs. 325 crore sales this year (2015-2016) as against Rs. 306 crore last year.