UK-based Clarks Footwear to add 15 more stores

Targets to double sales against last year by January 2014

British shoemaker Clarks expects to double its sales with launch of over 15 new stores across India by the end of January 2014.

Clarks is present in India since 2011 through a joint venture with Kishore Biyani promoted Futures Group. The Indian subsidiary of the UK-based footwear major is known as Clarks Future Footwear Ltd.

The company had last month entered the Gujarat market with launch of store in Vadodara. It plans to open five more stores in Gujarat by the end of 2013.

"Gujarat is developing at a fast pace and Ahmedabad is a strategic market for us. We have plans to open more stores in the city and other parts of the state," said S Ramprasad, CEO, Clarks Future Footwear Ltd. He said that the Ahmedabad store would be 40th for the company which already has presence in major cities like Mumbai and Delhi. "Out this 35 stores are company owned while six are based of franchise model," Ramprasad said.

Talking about its business in India, Ramprasad said, "We sold nearly 260,000 pair of footwear, and this year we are expecting to sell nearly 500,000 units by January 31, 2014, as we follow  February to January calendar." The company plans to open stores in Rajkot and Surat this month, he added.

Apart from standalone stores, the products of the company is also available in shop-in-shop formats in number of multi-brand retails store including Lifestyle, Metro and Reliance Retail to name a few. The brand is also available on major online shopping portals like Flipkart, Myntra and Jabong.

According to Ramprasad over 50 per cent of business come from its retails stores, while another 35 per cent from multi-brand stores and the rest from online sales through shopping portals.