Woollen brand Monte Carlo to enter premium footwear

Next month Monte Carlo Fashions will enter the footwear segment with a premium line of formal and casual wear shoes for men. The Ludhiana-based company has tied up with a Delhi-based company who will be the official brand licensee.

The new footwear will be sold through MBOs. The company is looking to earn an initial revenue of Rs 15 crore in the next three years from the segment.

The woollen and cotton apparel brand was set up in 1984. Presently, it sells apparels for men, women and children through more than 200 EBOs, about 1300 MBOs and 60 large format retail stores. The company also sells online through e-commerce platforms like Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal. The company plans to open 15-20 stores in 2016-17 with special focus on southern and western parts of the country where the brands needs to expand its presence. The plan is to open stand-alone and multi-brand retail stores in the west and south India.

It is said that footwear turnover of apparel companies usually doesn’t exceed 10 per cent of the entire portfolio because footwear has a different supply-chain compared to apparel. It has its own set of complexities. According to Technopak, footwear market in India is growing at 12 per cent per annum and is expected to touch 11.5 billion dollar by 2020 from 6 billion dollar in 2014.

Monte Carlo registered a growth rate of 17 per cent and earned Rs 650 crore in revenue in the year ended March 2016.