A step forward

New Delhi, Aug. 17: Footwear and apparel maker Woodland is planning to expand its retail chain within the country and abroad.

To fund its expansion plans, the company is mulling options, including an initial public offering, to raise more than Rs 400 crore from the market.

“After doing reasonably well in India, we want to expand in the overseas market,” Harkirat Singh, managing director of Woodland, told The Telegraph.

Singh said it would take Woodland up to a year and a half to finalise its funding plans. “It (the IPO) could be anywhere between Rs 350 and Rs 400 crore or perhaps even more. Financial details will be carefully worked out later,” he added.

According to Singh, Woodland is planning to expand its footprints to the UAE, Singapore, Canada, South Africa, the UK, Bangladesh, Mauritius and Nepal. While in some of these markets, the company already has a limited presence by the way of distributors and selected exclusive stores.

Targeting to double its turnover to Rs 400 crore in the next two years, the company claims to enjoy a market share of 60 per cent in the casual footwear range. In this segment, Woodland wants to compete with Lee Cooper and Red Tape.

According to industry estimates, the organised footwear market is worth Rs 5,000 crore, while the unorganised market is pegged in the range of Rs 18,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore.

The company plans to increase its exclusive stores from 130 to 200 in the next couple of years.

The company has 30 distributors selling Woodland’s casual and premium footwear range in nearly 2,000 multi-brand stores across the country.

On large format stores, Singh said, “Our product range is already present in Shopper’s Stop and Lifestyle stores. We are also in talks with Reliance.”

According to Singh, Woodland may carve out a separate subsidiary for its retail business in the future. “Depending on the progress of expansion, we may have a manufacturing company and a separate retail arm,” he said.

The company will invest about Rs 10 crore at its facilities in Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal to increase its daily production from 10,000 pair of shoes a day to 13,000.

The company will diversify its apparel range, which currently contributes 25 per cent to total sales. “We want our footwear and apparel businesses to contribute in the 60:40 ratio in the future,” Singh said.