Duckback on an expansion spree

Duckback, the 90 years old brand synonymous with introducing rain-wear, rubberised foot wear, hot water bottle, etc., made out of natural rubber in India markets, is on a major retail expansion drive, having launched new merchandise and exclusive retail showrooms pan India.

The brand launched a new range of merchandised school bags called "The Gogol Collection” that capture the look of a character called "Gogol” created by famous Bengali writer Samaresh Basu and much talked about film "Gogoler Kirti” by Ishani Films. The concept behind the collection is to make available this particular character through merchandised products to its target group.

Abhijit Deb Purkyastha, Deputy General Manager - Sales & Marketing, Bihar Rubber Company Limited (which is running the brand currently), shares, "Gogol, though liked by all age groups, did not get exposure other than making presence felt through films from time to time. Keeping these facts into consideration, Duckback introduced Gogol in a different medium to attract the school kids mainly with water proof school bags and pencil boxes with the character name printed on it. We are especially focussing at attracting kids from Class I-VI from Bengal who read such epic adventure. The product price initiates from Rs.500 and we have four colour variations as well. This collection will be available at all Duckback stores across West Bengal. We have a steady customer bank throughout the year who buys our merchandise.”

Duckback is expanding rapidly their retail footprints and merchandise gallery. Purkyastha adds, "Presently we have 34 exclusive showrooms in the country. The brand being headquartered in Kolkata we have 12 showrooms in the state and as a whole we have around 26 EBOs in the east zone as we are greatly catering this market.  Apart from this, we are present in Chennai, Baroda, Mumbai and Bangalore through MBOs. We have a huge range of products, so we are adding showrooms. By next year March out total count will go up to 50 EBOs pan India.”