Now Woods looking at luxe and premium segment entry

Popular footwear and apparel-maker Woodland is venturing into luxury and premium segments and its doing this by repositioning its sub-brand ‘Woods’.. Harkirat Singh, Managing Director, Aero Club, the makers of Woodland and Woods, said recently that they plan to come up with a range of products, especially formal wear for both men and women. Woods will focus on leather footwear for women, formal footwear for men and an accessories portfolio. Offerings will be priced Rs 5,000-8,000. Introduced seven years ago, Woods is into premium office footwear, while the mother brand offers outdoor shoes and casual wear.

Woods will be competing with the likes of Charles & Keith, ALDO, Clarks and a host of other brands. According to Singh, Woods’ contribution stands at 25 per cent of Aero Club’s Rs 1,200 turnover in FY17. The share is set to increase to 30 per cent over the next couple of years.

While two standalone stores have come up in Delhi post the creation of the separate retail identity, another 10-12 stores — at a proposed cost of Rs 10-15 crore are expected to come up within this fiscal across cities including Mumbai, Pune, Ludhiana, Bengaluru and Mysuru.

The company has already tied up with design studios in Italy, and is importing some of the offerings from Hong Kong, Taiwan and so on, apart from making in India.