Skechers eyes up to 500 stores in India in 5 yrs

American footwear major Skechers is looking at opening up to 400 more exclusive outlets in India within 5 years as it expands operations as well as launches apparel and accessories collection in the country.
It operates 100 exclusive outlets in the country that are company-owned as well as franchises.
"In the next five years, we should have 400-500 outlets in India. That's the journey we want to embark on. We should be adding anywhere between 25-35 more outlets by end of this year," Skechers South Asia Pvt Ltd CEO Rahul Vira told PTI.
Skechers, which entered India in 2012 through a joint venture with Kishore Biyani-led Future Group, is also looking at launching apparel and accessories collection by the middle of next year.

As a pilot project, the company had tested the market for its apparel line with a small range.
"We plan to launch apparel and accessories by mid of next calender year. It will be full range in apparel and accessories such as bags, socks and caps," Vira said.

"Launch, however, depends on lot of things...such as our supply chain, structural changes at the stores -- which are primarily designed for selling shoes," he added.
The company, which follows calender year as its financial year, is looking at closing the current year with sales of over Rs 500 crore.
"We are growing at the rate of 100 per cent year-on-year. In the first half of this year, we have already done sales of Rs 300 crore. We are looking at closing the year with sales of Rs 500 odd crore," Vira said.

Skechers had reported sales of over Rs 220 crore in India in the previous year.
At present, the company fully imports products sold in the country.
When asked if the company is looking at manufacturing locally in the near future he said: "Once we reach a certain scale and size, the company would look at options of manufacturing locally.