Woods will not piggybank on Woodland, will have separate stores

The fashion lifestyle brand of Woodlands, ‘Woods’, will be given separate space in order to bring it out of Woodland’s shadow. Footwear and adventure accessories major Woodland will give the Rs 250 crores trendy and luxury brand a ‘much-needed’ and ‘timely’ boost. Aero Club, the company behind the brands, will launch 10 exclusive brick-and-mortar Woods store in India this fiscal. Already the idea has been has test marketed as it is contributing more than 25 per cent for Aero Club’s revenue both via offline-online routes.

The reason behind this move is, as Harkirat Singh, MD, Woodland, explains is the completely different philosophy of both brands. Also, buyers’ pattern is changing. People, especially youngsters, are fashion conscious and even have the disposable income to spend on trendy shoes, accessories and clothes. As per Singh, Woods will cater to this segment with its one-stop stores. And soon it will introduce a new range of style and colour for the high-end market.

Woods will also open stores overseas in countries such as Russia, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada and the UAE where already Woodlands’ has a major presence. Of late, Woodlands is even eyeing African countries. The company is hoping to raise its exports’ contribution to the total turnover to 25 per cent by next year, up from 15 per cent with the expansion in overseas market.

Woods is an iconic British-style brand which offers formal and semi-casual footwear, apparel and accessories. It sells at least 15 per cent of its products through e-tailing. There are plans to even have separate e-tail sites for Woods.