Woodland to invest Rs 100 cr for expansion this fiscal

Footwear major Woodland is planning to invest around Rs 100 crore in the current fiscal to increase its own brand outlets from the current 350 stores to 500 stores in the next two years. It will add 60 new stores by end of 2012.  

Also, the company is increasing its apparel business along with outdoor sports goods. At present,  around 60 per cent of our total turnover is from footwear, 30 per cent from apparels and the rest of 10 per cent from accessories like backpacks and belts.

Addressing 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.We are planning to set up around 60 new stores in India, with the investment of Rs 100 crore. There are very few players active in the outdoor sportswear category. We targeting youth under the age group of 16 to 24 years."

The company, which entered the Chinese market recently through distribution in multi brand outlets, is planning to set up its own stores in the country in the next two to three years, said a senior official from Woodland. The company, at present, has around 350 own outlets with a presence through around 4,000 retailers. Woodland exports 25 per cent of its total production to the Middle east and South East Asia. The company is not very keen to explore European markets. It has entered the Hong Kong market around three months ago with distribution through multi brand outlets.

Speaking about overseas expansion Singh said," Woodland is planning to set up stores in Singapore, Hong Kong and China. We would start with Hong Kong in the next two years. These markets are almost three to four times bigger than the Indian market."

The company, which clocked Rs 750 crore sales last year, is expecting the sales to touch Rs 1,000 crore this fiscal year.

It has production facilities in Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal, apart from manufacturing through vendors in cities like Bangalore and Mumbai. Almost 70 per cent of the production is through its own facilities,  while the rest is contributed by vendors. Also, for its ProPlanet initiative - ‘StepOut2goProPlanet’. Woodland has tied up with LinkedIn to spread the message.

‘StepOut2GoProPlanet’ is an innovative and participative campaign that invites informative and innovative ideas from professional ProPlanteersto make the environment, a greener place to live. Woodland has taken this innovative initiative to bring professionals across various corporates together for the cause and become integral part of the campaign.