Woodland plans Rs 100 cr investment for expansion

Footwear major Woodland is on a retail expansion

spree in India as well as international markets and is planning to invest around Rs 100 crores in the current fiscal to increase its own brand outlets from 350 at present to 500 in the next two years. It will add 60 new stores by the end of 2012. Also, the company is increasing its apparel business along with outdoor sports goods.

At present, around 60 per cent of Woodland’s total turnover is from footwear, 30 per cent from apparels and the rest of 10 per cent from accessories like backpacks and belts. Addressing the media in Pune, Harkirat Singh, Managing Director, Woodland said, “We are planning to bring more technology in our products. We would be expanding the capacity with new technologies to produce two million more pairs as against our current capacity of 4-5 million pairs every year. There are very few players active in the outdoor sportswear category. We targeting youth under the age group of 16 to 24 years.” It is also going all out to woo women customers. It has unveiled a new line of shoes and apparels under its women-centric brand Woods recently. The company comes up with around 60-70 new shoe designs for women every three months between the price range of Rs 3,000 and Rs 6,000 for each pair and the fashion and party wear boots cost up to Rs 10,000. The company retails these products through its own 350 exclusive Woodland stores and some 4,000 multi-brand outlets across India.

Meanwhile Woodland has begun test-marketing its products in Hong Kong and China. It plans to step up its presence in these countries this fiscal. The Aero Group also plans to set up a franchisee model for Woodland stores, particularly in the overseas market. So far, all Woodland stores have been company-owned. Currently, exports account for about one-fourth of Woodland’s revenues of over Rs 700 crores.

Woodland, set up in Quebec, Canada, kicked off India operations in 1992. It tried to differentiate itself as a maker of rugged outdoor sports footwear. Their products are available at over 300 exclusive stores and 3,000-plus multi-brand outlets across the globe. Woodland’s parent company, Aero Group, is a highly integrated firm with its own leather tanning units and production facilities in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Macau and Canada.