Liberty Shoes to add 100 stores every year
Liberty Shoes has drawn up an ambitious retail expansion plan of adding 100 stores every year for next few years, depending on location and requirement. At present, Liberty Shoes has 400 outlets, out of which 325 are franchise owned and 75 outlets are company-owned. The company has also been making conscious effort to upgrade standard and format of our retail outlets, Anupam Bansal, executive director, Liberty group, told Financial Chronicle.
The retail sector in India is going through a consolidation phase and the Rs 17,000-Rs 20,000 crore Indian footwear industry is growing at 10 per cent annually. The industry is also attracting huge investments from national and international players. Liberty’s retail expansion plans aims at tapping this huge potential, Bansal said. Liberty spends Rs 15 to 20 crore per year on its marketing activities, which happens at two levels — from a mass communication ATL (above the line) point and from the retail point which is like BTL (below the line, to back up this retail expansion plans.
The company over the years has developed a spectrum of exclusive brands for both male and female categories across all age groups, each of which has been given that extra edge to cater to a specific target requirement. However, maximum sales for the company come from kids segment, which is followed by men’s segment in terms of value and women in terms of number of pairs.
“Going forward, our focus will be on expansion of retail network, new look and feel of stores, expansion plans in terms of opening more outlets in potential cities and markets and launch of new products. Our plan is to launch new styles and design collections every month. Our focus will be on all brands. Our new range would range imbibe the spirit of fun and would be stylish in accordance with the recent fashion trends,” said Bansal.
Liberty Shoes is the only Indian company, which is among the top five manufacturers of leather footwear in the world. The company is producing more than 60,000 pairs of footwear a day. The products are marketed across the globe through 150 distributors, 400 exclusive showrooms and over 6,000 multibrand outlets, and sold in more than 25 countries. The major geographies that the company is looking at with the maximum thrust include France, Italy, and Germany, Bansal said.
The other segment, the company is keen on developing is institutional sales, particularly safety shoes. At present, around 25 per cent of the company’s sales come from institutional sales and there is further scope to grow.
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