JP\/17\/BANDUNG<\/p>\n
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\nTantri Yuliandini
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta
\n-------------------<\/p>\n
His navy blue shirt bears the picture of a polo player, his
\nneatly pressed trousers have a little tag at the back that reads
\nDockers, and his shiny shoes bears the La Coste alligator logo.
\nThe ring of a mobile phone disturbs his gait, and he casually
\ntakes out a Nokia Communicator, the latest.<\/p>\n
At the other end of the line, a woman in a simply cut -- and
\nobviously overpriced -- dress is talking. Her black tresses have
\nbeen tinged with bronze and she is carrying a Chanel bag.<\/p>\n
It was a typical day in the capital, and the man and woman are
\nyour typical Jakarta executives. Their overall appearance
\nscreamed \"expensive!\" and a lesser man would think \"Singapore\".<\/p>\n
That is, of course, the exact image that they would want other
\npeople to think. Little would they realize that those \"costly\",
\nbranded goods were bought in Bandung, about four hours drive
\nsoutheast of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
And the man and woman also never realized that their desire to
\nlook affluent has been exploited by some shrewd retailers in the
\ntown that was once called the Paris van Java.<\/p>\n
Just as Paris is the world's fashion center, Bandung also
\nstrives to have the latest fashions ... at the least possible
\nprices.<\/p>\n
Not so long ago, hundreds of stores were dedicated to denim
\nwear, all along Cihampelas road, and other places besides. Then
\nit was leather goods, and another part of the city was dedicated
\nto leather shoes, jackets, belts, and pants, namely the Cibaduyut
\narea.<\/p>\n
More recently, factory outlets have sprung up like mushrooms,
\noffering branded goods destined for export at around half their
\noriginal price.<\/p>\n
\"If I opened my shop in Jakarta, I wouldn't do such a roaring
\nbusiness as I do here. Gengsi would not buy at my store if they
\ncould be seen by their friends,\" said Perry Tristianto, owner of
\nseveral factory outlets in Bandung, highlighting the reason
\nbehind his chosen city and explaining the word gengsi or pride.<\/p>\n
Perry is the owner of nine factory outlets; five in Bandung
\nalone, three in Surabaya, and another in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
He started out as a simple door-to-door T-shirt vendor, but
\nrealizing this prevailing weakness for foreign brands, he bought
\nup factory rejects and sold them as ex-export goods.<\/p>\n
Not only clothing, but shoes, handbags, watches, and bedsheets
\nare sold at around half their original price.<\/p>\n
And although people know that the goods are made by
\nIndonesians and are factory rejects, the lure of foreign-branded
\ngoods is obviously too strong, as his merchandise sells like hot
\ncakes.<\/p>\n
The advent of the Asian economic crisis did little to harm the
\nex-export business other than to force Perry to shift his focus
\nto rejects from local factories rather than those abroad.<\/p>\n
\"Our exports dropped during that time, and there were no more
\nfactory rejects,\" he explained.<\/p>\n
In 1999 Perry opened his first store, the Factory Outlet Store
\n(FOS), claiming that he was the first to have used the name.<\/p>\n
Perry said that the goods he sold at his stores were the
\noriginal deal, from factories holding original licenses in India,
\nHong Kong, Malaysia, and Brunei.<\/p>\n
He also said that he only bought A-grade and B-grade rejects,
\nor those that have been overproduced and those with nonvisible
\ndefects.<\/p>\n
But today, Perry's success is challenged by strong
\ncompetition. In Bandung alone there are already more than 30
\nstores selling the same type of goods. Some are selling the
\n\"real-deal\" while others are riding the moment on fake goods.<\/p>\n
\"This is what's killing the business. Nowadays people are
\nreluctant to go to a factory outlet because much of the
\nmerchandise is fake,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Nobody wants to be seen wearing something fake\".<\/p>\n
This was also why he is now trying to distance himself from
\nthe factory outlet stereotype.<\/p>\n
\"Only one of my stores in Bandung is still called a factory
\noutlet. Others I call clothing gallery, celebrities' choice, and
\nboutique outlet,\" Perry said.<\/p>\n
He is also changing the look of his stores, from a simple
\nwarehouse, such as the Big Price Cut on Jl. Aceh, to a more up-
\nbeat, affluent look on Jl. Riau, called The Summit.<\/p>\n
\"It's what keeps people coming, the variety of goods sold and
\nthe atmosphere of the place,\" Perry claimed.<\/p>\n
But don't expect to find the same type of Yves Saint Laurent
\nhandbag or Esprit shirt in local department stores. \"The goods
\nhere are those destined for export to other countries, not to
\nIndonesia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Despite acknowledging that business would be tougher this
\nyear, Perry was optimistic that the \"foreign is better\" dictum
\nwould prevail and his innovative approaches in nursing that
\ndictum would eventually win the day.<\/p>\n
Know your originals:<\/p>\n
* Standard S-M-L sizes on original ex-export clothing are usually
\nlarger than those found in local markets.<\/p>\n
* Original brands use higher-quality material.<\/p>\n
* Original brands usually have neater stitching.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp17bandung-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }