With just over a month left for the schools to reopen after the summer vacation, the sale of uniforms has started to pick up.
“We are selling more than 1,000 pieces of readymade schools uniforms a day in addition to the fabric for stitching the uniforms,” said Abdul Gafoor, managing director of a textile firm in the city.
Two years after bringing out ready-to-wear school uniforms on a trial basis, his firm has hit the market in full swing this year.
Mr. Gafoor said that he was wiser by the experience during the trial and error period when he burnt his fingers when too much of stock was left unsold owing to the issues relating to pattern and size.
“We have rectified those errors and have now stock of readymade uniforms of about 200 schools across the district,” Mr. Gafoor said.
With about 10,000 students in seven schools across the district, the light blue top and navy blue bottom of Bhavans was the uniform that was most in the demand, he said.
From ties, to socks to badges, his showrooms have been converted into one-stop-shop for school accessories.
Gracy Thomas, who runs a unit at the Kerala Small Industries Development Corporation industrial estate at Angamaly, has tie-ups with eight schools in the district for supplying uniforms in bulk. She said that stitching works of uniforms of schools which order up to 1,500 pairs could be completed within 15 to 20 days.
“We have already completed such an order of Toc H Public School, Udyogamandal,” Ms. Thomas said.
Her unit on an average charges between Rs. 200- 250 for stitching a pair of uniform of a boy student up to Std VII, while the charge for a pair of uniform of a girl student in the same age group was in the range of Rs. 200 to Rs. 225.
Mr. Gafoor's firm also undertakes stitching works. Material and stitching specifications are outsourced to units outside but the quality check is directly under their supervision, he said. There are about 12 persons entrusted with the quality control job, he said.
