I.

Introduction

PantSaloon is a collaboration of ideas, talents and hard work of Business

Administration majors from the University of the Philippines-Diliman. Disliking the
idea of working for others on a fixed schedule, they are advocates of
entrepreneurship who conceptualized their own business in order to become their
own bosses. Spotting an opportunity in the nature of the Philippine retailing industry
and conducting a series of strategic market skimming led to the idea of providing
customized jeans for the young Filipino adult.

Clothing, in recent times, has already become an expression of a lifestyle, while self-
expression is a need that the young Filipino experiences upon entering college and
young adulthood. It is through dressing up, among a lot of others ways, that the
young Filipino is relentless in his pursuit to find avenues in expressing his
individuality. PantSaloon aims to capitalize on this and in the growing desire of
people to look good without sacrificing comfort.

The young adult’s lifestyle is not sedentary – as he traverses through his youth, he
enters a world filled with new experiences and happenings. He makes new friends
and acquaintances, and with this, experiences new joys and miseries. As his
experiences increase and his network expands, his tastes and preferences evolve as
well.

With this knowledge, PantSaloon has decided to bank on ways by which the target
market can express itself in limitless ways, given the assumed evolution of his
tastes. Through customized and tailored-to-fit jeans branded under PantSaloon, the
young Filipino adult has a new avenue by which he can convey his individuality.

PantSaloon is a clothing boutique that adds a service dimension to the retailing of

jeans through customization and tailor-fitting. By giving the customers a chance to
design their jeans according to their every whim while assuring them of its perfect
fit, PantSaloon will represent every young Filipino adult’s quest for self-expression,
individuality, adventure and freedom.

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A. Executive Summary

To fully assess the feasibility of the business idea of a customized jeans service shop
for students and young adults, EALA Inc. has made two key environmental analyses:

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the macro- and microenvironment analysis. The macro-environment analysis takes
into the account the political situation under the Philippine government; the
economic environment, which mentioned pertinent economic indicators that are
relevant to the analysis of the market and described the current economic situation
in the country; the cultural environment, which took note of important socio-cultural
demographics to better understand the target market; and the technological
environment, which listed capabilities that the local garments industry has as of the
moment. On the other hand, the micro-environmental analysis focused on the
garments industry in which the group wishes to enter. The analysis discussed the
developments and issues in the local garments industry.

In addition, as part of the micro-environmental analysis, EALA Inc. considered the

retail trade in the Philippines as well as possible competitors within the industry.
There are several key players in the garment industry that are the closest
competitors of PantSaloon. These are indirect competition whose brands offer
ready-to-wear jeans. Among the competitors considered were: Jag, Folded & Hung,
Levi’s, Lee, Guess, Penshoppe, Oxygen, and even tiangges and ukay-ukay.

EALA Inc. came up with its target market by taking into consideration the number of
students enrolled in the Katipunan-based academic institutions, UP-Diliman, Ateneo
University and Miriam College. We also included the percentage of the youth, aged
15-24, in the communities within Katipunan Area.

The figures projected through stated annual growth rates within 10 years would
then be used to calculate the demand forecast of PantSaloon.

Market demand refers to the amount that potential buyers from the target market
would likely consume or buy from our products. PantSaloon's demand has been
computed by adjusting an acceptability rate from the targeted market. Moreover,
to get the monthly and annual demand, the consumption rates for both the top and
bottom clothing lines were multiplied to their projected consumption rates
respectively.

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PantSaloon's supply has been derived from the annual average production capacity
of the garment industry for 2005. However, to carve the proportion that would
represent our target market, the volume has been adjusted by getting the
percentage of the target market. To be more distinct, the fraction of students and
young adults who encountered dissatisfaction in buying their clothes was also
multiplied so as to get the projected supply for the business.

Reconciling both the Demand and Supply, a considerably high gap has been
observed thereby giving an impression that there really is a need for the services of
this new venture.

Market share for PantSaloon has been estimated to be at 9.55% in the introductory
phase of the business. Nevertheless, promotional activities and strategic expansion
objectives would enable PantSaloon to gradually carve bigger part of the market
throughout its operations.

Segmenting, targeting, and positioning are critical factors in shaping the success of
any business plan. In the Philippines, the market could be segmented in many ways
– geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral. PantSaloon segmented
the market geographically according to communities, specifically the ones in the
Quezon City. For demographic segmentation PantSaloon’s market will be grouped
according to age, income and race. Psychographic segmentation further divides the
market base into factors such as social class, lifestyle, and personality.

PantSaloon is a clothing service shop specially designed for the jean design and
fitting needs of (1) college students and young adults who are between the (2) age
of 15 and 24 years old, (3) both men and women, particularly those who are (4)
residents and/or located in institutions within Katipunan Area.

PantSaloon will be established and positioned as a customized jeans maker for

college students and the young adults, that offers flexible, unique and creative
jeans with perfect fitting and comfort to the level of the customer's choice of fabric,
cut and over-all design.

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EALA Inc. understands the problem that students and young adults face, hence, the
reason of coming up with the idea of PantSaloon. Its clothing service is geared
towards addressing the usual problems that stylish students and young adults
always encounter. Thus, the cuts, sizes and dimensions that shall make up the
apparels will accordingly be custom-made in order to give the target market the
right fit, form, and comfort that match their body frames.

Since, the world of fashion is relatively fast paced, PantSaloon has to constantly
search for the latest trends on the web, magazines, and catalogues, and should also
be keen in observing how prominent fashion figures project themselves through the
clothes they wear. Cleaner, discreet, and vibrant colors and shades shall
characterize the apparels that the store will offer. High quality materials similar to
those used by established other jeans makers shall be utilized. EALA Inc. also
plotted the different strategies with regard to the expansion of its product line
throughout the life of the service shop – from introduction to maturity.

As a store catered for the youth, PantSaloon is setting a middle-ranged premium on

all its prices. It will be more or less at par with our potential competitors like Folded
& Hung, Levi's and Jag in terms of price. In addition, PantSaloon will be located in
one of the buildings in Katipunan, where target market is easily tapped. Eventually,
during the maturity stage the business is planning to expand its product lines from
jeans to customized jeans and jackets.

EALA Inc. came up with short term and long-term promotional activities and goals to
aggressively advertise the brand and its products. To begin with, good relationships
with various media publications and broadcast networks shall be established. This
will allow PantSaloon to increase customer awareness of its products. Eventually,
the company will launch a campaign featuring a famous personality as the brand’s
image model.