Kikomo Offers Micromarketing Solution to Mass Merchants - Brief Article

Kikomo Ltd. has developed an innovative approach for delivering hot-selling garments to mass merchants within seven days. The firm's new "in 7" program involves the use of a patent-pending technology for converting blank knit or woven sports shirts into solid color or patterned tops.

Kikomo, a multimillion dollar apparel firm and VF Corp.'s sports shirt licensee, is making shirts for the "in 7" program in Asia. It then warehouses the cotton and cotton-blend blanks in its North Carolina facility, where the goods are converted according to demand. Retail prices per shirt range from $14.99 to $19.99.

At press time, eight major retailers, led by ShopKo, had signed on to the "in 7" program, with initial orders slated for shipment last month.

Kikomo president Neil Kukreja, who invented the process at the heart of the "in 7" program, is no stranger to apparel technology. In fact, 15 years ago he developed a garment-dyeing process for women's crinkle cotton dresses that became a $160-million business.

He calls his latest invention a break-through in yarn technology. All-cotton yarns are treated to accept or reject color, he noted, and as a result, different colors can be picked up in the ground or in a pattern. In explaining what makes his "in 7" processes unique, Kukreja said: "Because of the depth of the dyes, the consumer cannot tell that it's a garment-dyed [product]."

Elaborating on the overall "in 7" strategy, Kukreja observed: "If I take nine blanks, offer them in 28 colors and nine different wash treatment finishes, and [with] value-added applications like flocking and embroidery -- I'm able to make [up to] 19,000 different styles that I can build and customize."

That's good for the stores. As Kukreja put it: "Wal-Mart [has] 2,200 doors, and not all doors are the same: Wisconsin may be selling pinks, Miami reds, etc. Now we can customize product by store, and have different assortments by clusters. [It's] micromarketing, still at mass market pricing."

For each of its "in 7" retail chain customers, Kikomo's goal is to provide 10 stores within each chain with shirts in one wash finish and one color assortment, 10 other stores within the chain with another assortment, and so on. After recording one week of sales, Kikomo then will supply the entire chain with the items that are moving.

While the first phase of the "in 7" program rollout is limited to men's shirts and the eight participating retailers, plans are underway to expand the program into women's and children's apparel, and to offer the program to other merchants and manufacturers.

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