Starting its journey way back in 1992 with a four-line facility, Impressive Garment (Pvt.) Ltd. has traversed a long distance to turn into a conglomerate known as Impressive Group with six garment manufacturing facilities and even extending into accessory manufacturing, fabrics and other businesses now, but yet staying focused on producing ‘bottoms’.
“Last year we exported garments worth US $ 67 million and this year our target is to reach US $ 90 million with the inception of the latest 20-line facility (Galaxy Stitch Ltd.) with production capacity of 7 lakh pieces per month to manufacture mainly bottoms – shorts and casual trousers for Next, Lidl, Walmart, Carter’s OshKosh, California Baby, George and other selective buyers,” informs Md. Mosharraf Hossain Dhali, Managing Director of Impressive Group and Chairman of Utilization Committee of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BGMEA). Galaxy Stitch Ltd. is a fully compliant green facility, being looked after and taken care of by Mosharaff’s son Rahet Hossain Dhali.
Underlining the secret of success, unlike many other garment manufacturers who have diversified their offerings to increase market share, the company has been steadfastly augmenting its product knowledge and expertise in niche products. “If you do everything you won’t be good in anything, hence our focus is on bottoms,” explains the MD of the Group. Besides, carrying the tag of ‘specialist’ also helps negate the competition from rivals who can go to any extent to eat into the competitor’s market and business. “Although competition is everywhere but in Bangladesh it has gone to an altogether different dimension. The buyers are taking advantage of the existing scenario and pitting one manufacturer against the other, which they should not…,” laments Mosharraf.
Going beyond its traditional market of Europe and USA, Impressive Group is now looking at new destinations and there are reasons for it. “Specialising in a particular product category requires one to widen one’s market base that has demand for the product. As such we are targeting Australia and South Africa, both of which have very good prospects,” maintains Mosharraf.
Impressive Group houses under its umbrella – Impressive Garments (Pvt.) Ltd., a 5-line manufacturing facility at Kadamtoly Industrial Area (Dhaka), with production capacity of 1,00,000 pieces per month now and spread over 45,000 sq. ft.; Civic Apparels, a 15-line setup with production capacity of 3,20,000 pieces per month; M-YEW Fashion Ltd. – a 6-line production setup, with monthly production capacity of 1,30,000 pieces; TH Fashion with a setup of 6 lines and production capacity of 1,20,000 piece per month; Tivoli Apparels Limited is a 6-line manufacturing facility with production capacity of 2,10,000 pieces per month; and Golden Stitch Design Ltd. , a 17-line facility with production capacity of 5,00,000 pieces per month.
To cater well his would-be buyers in these new markets as well as the existing ones, Impressive Group has also hired services of a Canadian company, to take up product developments and new innovations as per the global trends and demands. Impressive Group’s services – fabric trading entity, Good Link Enterprise, which supplies imported fabrics (from China, India and Indonesia) for the domestic market as well as catering to the in-house demands, has given Mosharraf an extra edge enabling him to have a better control over quality. “We have our office in China for fabric development and fabric sourcing. Every season, we collect new fabrics and pass on to the buyers. We also take our buyers to our fabric suppliers’ showrooms wherefrom they can select the fabrics of their choice,” elucidates Mosharraf about Good Link, a company which is manned by a workforce of 45 people, selling fabrics worth around US $ 35 million annually. Having in-house accessory (Royal Label & Accessories Ltd.), printing (G7 Printing and Packaging Ltd.) and washing (ARK Washing Ltd.) facilities help Impressive Group’s cause even more. Aiming to consolidate operations, markets and clientele, Mosharraf has decided to stay put to further expansions, at least for now. “For the next five years I am not going to add any new facility. If my son wants to go on his own, that’s his prerogative,” says Mosharraf, adding, “I am happy with my buyers and the markets we are operating in now,” on a parting note.
