Lured by rising consumer demand and a huge untapped market, organised shoemakers and retailers such as Reliance Footprint and Metro Shoes, Catwalk are scaling up their presence to get a foot in the Rs 11,900 crore retail shoe market in the country.

Reliance Footprint, part of Reliance Retail, plans to spend Rs 400 crore to add 100 outlets across the country in two years to sell branded footwear such as Gel-Kayano of Asics, Adidas and Hush Puppies in its stores.

“The premium segment is growing at the rate of 15%, hence there is tremendous opportunity for eryone,” said Gopalkrishnan Sankar, CEO of Reliance Footprint, which sells mid to high-end products.

The Mukesh Ambani firm, which now runs 16 outlets, recently tied up with premium global brands such as Timberland of the US and Pavers of the UK has planned to scale up till 100 outlets. With the country’s economy continuing to flourish despite the global downturn and population growing younger, richer and more aspirational than ever, India has become one of the most lucrative markets for footwear players.

“India is big opportunity for retail shoe business as well as premium shoe brands. This segment grew by 12% last year, which was an abnormal year due to the global financial crisis.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/retailing/Retailers-scale-up-ops-to-get-foothold/articleshow/5536578.cms

Tags: Reliance, Reliance Group, Reliance Industries, RIL