Tatas step into shoe retail, plan 6 stores

Within three months of Noel Tata taking over as managing director of Tata International, export arm of the Tata Group, it announced today a foray into footwear retailing.

Noel was heading Trent, the retailing arm of Tatas, before joining Tata International.

The company today opened its first store retailing shoes, called 'TASHI', in the Linking Road area here, as part of plans to open six other such shoes-only stores by next month. New Delhi and Chandigarh are among the venues.

Depending on real estate availability and market conditions, the chain is looking at opening 300 stores in the next five years, a top executive said. The store sizes range from 2,000 to 4,500 sq ft.

"Indian consumers are upgrading to better products and lifestyles are changing. India is poised for very high aspirational growth. We want to be part of this growth," said Deepak Deshpande, vice president, retail, Tata International.

The Indian footwear retail market is estimated at Rs 16,000 crore (Rs 160 billion) and growing at 15 per cent per annum. While Bata controls around half the organised market, it has also seen the entry of new companies in recent years, such as the Future Group and Reliance Retail.

Nearly 80 per cent of the chain's products will be in-house brands and the rest from international ones. While the men's products would sell at Rs 2,000 to Rs 8,000, those for women will cost from Rs 700 to Rs 4,000.

The company, which exports products (not shoes) to international firms such as Zara and Marks & Spencer, among others, is looking at exporting its in-house products after establishing its shoe retail operations here, Deshpande said.

"It will give us a platform to develop our brand for export possibilities," Deshpande said.

He denied any clashes with overseas clients who were retailing their products in the country.

"Our branding and product lines will be different from theirs," he said.

The company has one of the largest manufacturing facilities in Asia, in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh and in Chennai. It has a design studio in Italy.

Image: Noel Tata