Relaxo hopes to maintain 20 pc growth rate

Footwear maker Relaxo, which has recently gone in for new brand identity by changing its logo, is expected to continue to grow at 20 per cent by keeping its momentum intact, a top company official said.
The Delhi-based firm, whose products are retailed at around 90,000 outlets, would also focus to expand network of company-owned stores by adding 30 in 2017, taking total count to 280 and invest in brand building.
The company's focus is on markets such as Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra for expansion of company-owned company-controlled (COCO) retail outlets.
"Relaxo has managed to grow revenues at a five-year compounded annual rate of 20 per cent. We would like to continue with the same momentum," Relaxo Director Gaurav Dua told PTI.

In financial year 2015-16, Relaxo had a turnover of Rs 1,715 crore.
He further added: "In COCO model, We have over 250 stores spread across 143 cities and we are planning to take it to 280 by the end of this year".

Besides, Relaxo which is present on e-commerce platforms through its own channel shop@ Relaxo and several other channel partners, is expecting a "steeper" growth from it.
"We can see that we can peg our growth rates on e-commerce channels to be significantly steeper than traditional channels," said Dua.
Moreover, Relaxo would continue to invest in brand building and retain its base as the competition in the segment is increasing as brands as the young generation are going for aspirational brands as Reebok, Puma, Adidas etc.

"The marketplace will definitely become more challenging with more players joining in... At Relaxo, our thrust will be to provide relevant consumer offerings customized to regional preferences and fashion sensibilities. We will keep investing in Brand building activities," Dua said.
Presently, Relaxo has four key brands - Sparx, Flite, Bahamas and School Mate in which Sparx and Bahamas are youth oriented brands.
Dua further added that Relaxo's October-December quarter has been impacted because of the demonetisation, which created cash crunch in market coupled with a subdued consumer sentiment to spend on luxuries.
"This time demonetisation has slowed the pace, we could not achieve the targeted figures. At an aggregate level, our business growth projections have been slightly impacted." he said.

The company has 8 manufacturing units and has presence in 25 countries.