Mondetta Clothing/Mondetta Performance Gear Opens its First MPG North American Location in the Company’s Hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba
(PRWEB) November 24, 2014 -- Students and the general public will have access to the company’s full collection of fashion forward, technically advanced active apparel. The 600 sq. ft. MPG on Campus store will be staffed by UWinnipeg students in partnership with the Faculty of Business and Economics, providing real world training and case-study opportunities.
Mondetta Clothing was founded at The University of Winnipeg while all four original founders were students in 1986, so the opening of this store marks the company’s return to its roots. Two sets of brothers struck up a friendship in Riddell Hall - Ash and Prashant Modha, Raj and Amit Bahl and the Modhas’ cousin, Pratik Modha, (who left the company shortly after). Together they would go on to create a global active wear clothing company that today employs 100 people in the U.S., China, Hong Kong and at their head office in Winnipeg.
In anticipation of the changing retail landscape, the company aims to have the store not only serve as a retail outlet but also as a showroom to showcase its apparel and accessories. With market research illustrating that consumers continue to abandon the mall for conventional shopping and increase their online purchases, the store will allow the public to research the brand offline thereat but purchase online. And given the fact young people/students at the U of W spend most of their time online via their smartphones, the store’s location at the school will be the perfect incubator to experiment and test the waters of the revolutionary shift in shopping habits and patterns.
“Having first started at the UWinnipeg, it is truly an honour and a genuine joy to return with a retail outlet to serve not only the students at the school, but also the Winnipeg community at large,” said Ash Modha, Mondetta CEO. “And as we continue to see the convergence between brick and mortar and online stores, MPG on Campus will act as a fantastic learning experience as to how consumers in the future will change their buying behaviours."
“Mondetta – which means small world – is truly a homegrown success story, and an inspiration to our students: hard work and perseverance do pay off,” said Dr. Annette Trimbee, President and Vice-Chancellor, UWinnipeg. “We are delighted to bring this store to campus and offer our business students new practicum possibilities."
A “soft opening” of MPG On Campus occurred today with a grand opening celebration taking place in the near future. MPG, in partnership with a Korean manufacturing partner, has already opened 15 stores and soft shops in Seoul, which have been well received as an alternative to the conventional offerings in the active wear market. The Winnipeg store will mark the company’s first foray in retail operations in North America and will be followed by additional store openings in the near future.
About MPG:
Founded in 2004 as a division of Mondetta Clothing, MPG, in its continuing efforts to create fashion forward active apparel, bridges the gap between performance and lifestyle to create entire collections that transition from one to the other with an innate versatility absent from other brands in the market. And although much of the original inspiration for the brand and its aesthetic was shaped by dance and dancers, MPG has found fans across a wide spectrum of individuals in pursuit of athletic excellence, including a large segment practicing yoga. From a handful of retail outlets in 2004 and 2005, the brand is now carried in over 450 outlets across North America including some of the most prestigious sports retailers, gyms/spas and yoga studios in the US and Canada. Looking forward, the company plans on continuing opening more doors to both big box retailers as well as smaller locations.
Anand Modha, MPG - Mondetta Performance Gear, http://ca.webstore.mpgsport.com/t-MCF-GivesBack.aspx, +1 (204) 786-1700, [email protected]
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