Footmart to open 15 stores in 2006

Bangalore, July 14 (UNI) Footmart Retail India Limited, the newly launched joint venture between Pantaloon and Liberty, is planning to open 15 outlets in the country by the year end.

Speaking to reporters after announcing the launch of its second outlet, 'The Shoe Factory,' in the city, Footmart Director Anupam Bansal said apart from the Liberty brand of footwear, the mart would also sell other premium brands of footwear and accessories for men, women and children, both imported and locally produced.

The company, which had recently opened its first store in Ahmedabad, had plans to further expand operations by adding another eight stores by September end and take it to 15 by the year end. It would now launch its stores in cities like Hyderabad, Mumbai, Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Delhi and Agra this year, he added.

Mr Bansal said of the national footwear market, ranging between Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 15,000 crore, organised sale constituted just little more than 15 per cent.

Liberty, which manufacturered 50,000 pairs of shoes per annum from its four factories, would open two more next-- one in Ponta Saheb in Himachal Pradesh and another at Roorkee. While it exported 30 per cent of its production, the rest was sold in the domestic market, he added.

UNI RS RG TS1552