Mahendra Padhy, former head – marketing & retail operations, Cottons by Century, has joined team Prateek Lifestyle as director, operations. Padhy will handle Mini Coupon – Youth Stores, the value format retail business model. With this new appointment, Padhy’s successful stint with Cottons by Century, a lifestyle brand from Century Textiles, comes to an end.
“Prateek Apparels is a vertically integrated unit. From designing to manufacturing to retailing, it has big plans for the near future, and I see a better growth opportunity there. I’ll be involved in forward integration and handle retail operations of Mini Coupon – Youth Stores, a new value format from the company,” Mahendra Padhy told Indiaretailing.
When asked about his immediate plans for Prateek Apparels, Padhy said: “This is a value format where we will be stocking popular youth brands like Lee, Pepe, etc., and will sell them on discounts. As of now, I am looking at 30 stores by March next year, across IT hubs or wherever the youth presence is more. We are also in the process of taking over certain closed stores of VF Corporation and Puma to convert them into Mini Coupon – Youth Stores.”
During his tenure at Cottons by Century, Padhy helped in better positioning of a brand that now competes in mid-to-premium level in formalwear category. He has also contributed in the rapid retail expansion of the brand. Within three years of operation, under the leadership of Padhy the company managed to garner Rs 48 crore revenue operating 100 exclusive stores.
Padhy was recently awarded the Super Achievers Award by Indira Group of Management School, Pune, coordinated by Asia HRM Congress, and Fun & Joy at Work, Mumbai.
Commenting on the achievement, Padhy said: “I dedicate this award to my team members at Century, family members, and friends who always helped in my growth and success.”
The Super Achievers Award is one of the recognitions of hard work at the industry level.
– Ranjan Kaplish and Vishnu Rageev R
