Woodland to retail in China through Aokang stores

Woodland will sell footwear in about 5,000 retail outlets in China through a Chinese company named Aokang. The footwear, apparels and accessories brand plans to step up production at its manufacturing units and plants in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh to manufacture footwear for the Aokang stores.

In the first phase, Aokang will stock Woodland shoes in 150 outlets. Woodland already sells its products in about 1,000 stores globally, including in Hong Kong, Russia and Dubai. That figure will increase to 6,000 stores once it starts sales at all Aokang stores.

Woodland was launched in 1992. It is constantly growing between 10 to 15 per cent a year. Woodland has stores in Hong Kong and is having good growth in the Middle East and the Commonwealth of Independent States with 15 per cent revenue coming from exports. Woodland has also set its sights on Africa. On the e-commerce front, the firm has transacted 10 to 12 per cent growth.

Woodland is also planning to provide its formal-cum-fashion lifestyle brand Woods a separate space to flourish in India and abroad. Woods is an iconic British-style brand which offers formal and semi-casual footwear, apparel and accessories. It’s valued at Rs 250 crores.