‘Viking’ and ‘Anand’ are leading brands of Tirupur, the hosiery capital of the country. These two brands can be credited with setting the ball rolling for the other brands which grew out of Tirupur. A vertically integrated group, Viking has expertise ranging from fiber to finished garments. The group is the brainchild of Mr. A.C. Eswaran, popularly referred to as ‘Viking’ Eswaran, under whose able leadership it has grown steadily over the years.
Hailing from a village about 15 km from Tirupur, Mr. Eswaran’s success story epitomizes the dynamic entrepreneurial spirit that this city is famed for. As a teenager he started working in hosiery units in 1954. Going down the memory lane, he said: “For 10 years I learnt the trade. I made sure that I was well versed with every aspect – spinning, weaving, knitting, dyeing, marketing, etc. It is only after I became thorough with all such aspects that I decided to set up my own business.”
Anand Hosieries, which he started in a small way in 1964, was mainly into production of innerwear. Mr. Eswaran’s relentless pursuit and sheer hard work saw the company create a name for itself over the years. “By 1976 we were an established name in South India, as well as a few pockets in North India,” he said going into details about the gradual growth of the group.
In the initial few years, Mr. Eswaran had set up a network of sales agents all over south India through which he was supplying his products. He, however, wanted a greater reach for his products and launched the ‘Viking’ brand in 1976.
Explaining the motive, he remarked: “We wanted to reach every part of the country with the Viking brand. So, we set about further strengthening our distribution network by appointing agents in almost every part of the country.”
Subsequently, in 1984, Mr. Eswaran started a bleaching and dyeing unit in Tirupur, which was another step in the consistent growth story of the group. The next major step was the setting up of a spinning mill – Viking Textiles Pvt. Ltd. – at Kangayam near Tirupur.
Commenting on the new project, he said: “We were finding it difficult to procure quality yarn. This led me to establishing Viking Textiles in 1996. Further, in order to meet growing demand for the group products, another mill – Anand Textiles – was started at Avinashi, near Tirupur.”
It was during this critical period that the distributor-agents felt the need to diversify the product portfolio. Till 2004 the group had been primarily focusing on inner wear products. With the setting up of Anand Textiles, it expanded its product range to include men’s wear, dhotis, kids wear, ladies wear, etc.
Origin of brand names
The story of how Mr. Eswaran came up with the two brand names, ‘Anand’ and ‘Viking‘, makes for an interesting reading. According to him, the brand name ‘Anand’ is actually a derivative of his sister’s name ‘Anandhi’. Since he was then dealing primarily with men’s inner wear, he changed it to ‘Anand’. Similarly, the brand name ‘Viking’ is inspired by the ‘Viking’ series of rockets that were launched by the US during the 1960s. The instantly recognizable logos of both these popular brands were designed by Mr. Eswaran himself.
No to exports & exclusive retail outlets
Strangely for a company based out of Tirupur, a city which exports products worth Rs. 20,000 crores to the global markets, the group has not ventured into exports. Going into details, Mr. Eswaran observed: “If you were to go into exports, what happens is that we put in all the hard work while the buyer would simply put his label on the products and sell them as his own brand. All the effort that we put in goes down the drain this way.”
The Viking Group is also not keen on setting up exclusive showrooms. According to Mr. Eswaran, setting up of exclusive showrooms does not make sense since the group products are already being sold by other retailers. What is the point in setting up exclusive showrooms then? “We don’t want to unnecessary send confusing signals to the end-consumers who are happy buying our products from the retailers,” he added.
SIHMA – Diamond Jubilee celebrations
Mr. Eswaran is also the President of the South India Hosiery Manufacturers Association (SIHMA) since last six years and of the prestigious Tirupur Club. Giving a brief overview of the Association, he said: “Today there may be several industry associations operating out of Tirupur. However, SIHMA can be termed the ‘Mother Association’, which will be celebrating its Diamond Jubilee very soon.”
SIHMA has emerged as the mouthpiece of the hosiery manufacturers by representing their demands to the Government, apart from offering its services for betterment of the society.
As part of his involvement with other associations as well as Viking Group’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, Mr. Eswaran said that the driving force behind activities running educational institutions and medical camps is his personal desire for improving the standard of common people in and around Tirupur.
As elsewhere, labour shortage is the major problem facing Tirupur. Lack of accommodation facilities and high rentals have proved a major problem for the potential workforce in the city. Mr. Eswaran has a novel solution for the issue when he said: “The Tamil Nadu Government has to necessarily consider setting up of ‘mini’ textile parks with all manufacturing facilities in villages within 10-20 km around Tirupur. Besides allaying fears about lack of accommodation, this would also mean an increase in employment opportunities in the villages to boost the development of the Tirupur textile cluster”.