JP/17/BANDUNG

JP/17/BANDUNG

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Tantri Yuliandini
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
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His navy blue shirt bears the picture of a polo player, his
neatly pressed trousers have a little tag at the back that reads
Dockers, and his shiny shoes bears the La Coste alligator logo.
The ring of a mobile phone disturbs his gait, and he casually
takes out a Nokia Communicator, the latest.

At the other end of the line, a woman in a simply cut -- and
obviously overpriced -- dress is talking. Her black tresses have
been tinged with bronze and she is carrying a Chanel bag.

It was a typical day in the capital, and the man and woman are
your typical Jakarta executives. Their overall appearance
screamed "expensive!" and a lesser man would think "Singapore".

That is, of course, the exact image that they would want other
people to think. Little would they realize that those "costly",
branded goods were bought in Bandung, about four hours drive
southeast of Jakarta.

And the man and woman also never realized that their desire to
look affluent has been exploited by some shrewd retailers in the
town that was once called the Paris van Java.

Just as Paris is the world's fashion center, Bandung also
strives to have the latest fashions ... at the least possible
prices.

Not so long ago, hundreds of stores were dedicated to denim
wear, all along Cihampelas road, and other places besides. Then
it was leather goods, and another part of the city was dedicated
to leather shoes, jackets, belts, and pants, namely the Cibaduyut
area.

More recently, factory outlets have sprung up like mushrooms,
offering branded goods destined for export at around half their
original price.

"If I opened my shop in Jakarta, I wouldn't do such a roaring
business as I do here. Gengsi would not buy at my store if they
could be seen by their friends," said Perry Tristianto, owner of
several factory outlets in Bandung, highlighting the reason
behind his chosen city and explaining the word gengsi or pride.

Perry is the owner of nine factory outlets; five in Bandung
alone, three in Surabaya, and another in Yogyakarta.

He started out as a simple door-to-door T-shirt vendor, but
realizing this prevailing weakness for foreign brands, he bought
up factory rejects and sold them as ex-export goods.

Not only clothing, but shoes, handbags, watches, and bedsheets
are sold at around half their original price.

And although people know that the goods are made by
Indonesians and are factory rejects, the lure of foreign-branded
goods is obviously too strong, as his merchandise sells like hot
cakes.

The advent of the Asian economic crisis did little to harm the
ex-export business other than to force Perry to shift his focus
to rejects from local factories rather than those abroad.

"Our exports dropped during that time, and there were no more
factory rejects," he explained.

In 1999 Perry opened his first store, the Factory Outlet Store
(FOS), claiming that he was the first to have used the name.

Perry said that the goods he sold at his stores were the
original deal, from factories holding original licenses in India,
Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Brunei.

He also said that he only bought A-grade and B-grade rejects,
or those that have been overproduced and those with nonvisible
defects.

But today, Perry's success is challenged by strong
competition. In Bandung alone there are already more than 30
stores selling the same type of goods. Some are selling the
"real-deal" while others are riding the moment on fake goods.

"This is what's killing the business. Nowadays people are
reluctant to go to a factory outlet because much of the
merchandise is fake," he said.

"Nobody wants to be seen wearing something fake".

This was also why he is now trying to distance himself from
the factory outlet stereotype.

"Only one of my stores in Bandung is still called a factory
outlet. Others I call clothing gallery, celebrities' choice, and
boutique outlet," Perry said.

He is also changing the look of his stores, from a simple
warehouse, such as the Big Price Cut on Jl. Aceh, to a more up-
beat, affluent look on Jl. Riau, called The Summit.

"It's what keeps people coming, the variety of goods sold and
the atmosphere of the place," Perry claimed.

But don't expect to find the same type of Yves Saint Laurent
handbag or Esprit shirt in local department stores. "The goods
here are those destined for export to other countries, not to
Indonesia," he said.

Despite acknowledging that business would be tougher this
year, Perry was optimistic that the "foreign is better" dictum
would prevail and his innovative approaches in nursing that
dictum would eventually win the day.

Know your originals:

* Standard S-M-L sizes on original ex-export clothing are usually
larger than those found in local markets.

* Original brands use higher-quality material.

* Original brands usually have neater stitching.