Kishore Biyani, Chairman, Future Group is planning to step up the group’s focus on men’s footwear retail since the category is becoming an important accessory for the Indian consumer.
According to Biyani, footwear today is no longer category defined for just women. It’s equally important for men – almost as important as buying trousers. With brands like Koovs, Lee Cooper, Clarks, Converse under one roof, Future Group claims to be the number two footwear retailer in India.
“We aim to be number one footwear retailer in India,” he added.
“Men are equally inclined towards buying footwear and on an average have at least 20 pairs to go with different trousers. This is the reason why we are expecting footwear to contribute approximately 18 percent to the overall revenue, an increase from the current 11 percent,” he said.
“We are expecting the share of footwear to increase from Rs 1,600 crore to Rs 2,500 crore by next year and we aim to be the number one footwear retailer in the country very soon,” he added at the re-launch of Central at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj. The contribution of private labels to the group’s revenue is around 40 percent presently.
At Central, Hyderabad, the footwear section spans across 30,000 sq. ft. and even in Central, Vasant Kunj, footwear occupies a major space covering 15,000 sq. ft. area.
The re-launched Central Vasant Kunj, spanning across 44,000 sq.ft area, is a high-definition store offering luxury experiences while keeping the price of the products at masstige level.
“Many online brands like Koovs, Craftsvilla have come offline with us. We are expecting an average ticket size of Rs 4,000 here and plan to take this up to Rs 8,000,” Biyani stated.
At present, Future Group – which is selling 30 crore garments annually – occupies a 35 percent market share in the fashion segment.
“We are expecting fashion to contribute Rs 70,000 core to the company revenue in the next seven years,” he concluded.
