Woodland to step into new markets

Domestic footwear major Woodland is planning to enter new markets like South Africa and Canada this year by launching both online and offline operations in these countries.

While it already has subsidiaries in countries like China, Hong Kong and Eastern Europe, new step up subsidiaries will be floated as there are intentions to set up warehousing facilities for starting e-commerce and marketing its brand of shoes and apparel.

Harkirat Singh, Managing Director, said: “We will be setting up subsidiaries in South Africa and Canada since we plan to start e-commerce and do our own warehousing. Retail is fairly organised in these countries so we may set up shop-in-shops with the existing retailers. Our export turnover, which is currently at ₹250 crore, is expected to touch ₹400 crore in the next two years.’’

Re-enter Canada In fact, Woodland is re-entering Canada since Chinese imports had not made it viable for the home-grown company to sustain its operations in this market.

“We had pulled out of Canada but now we are seeking strategic partners to sell our outdoor products,” added Singh, whose family already has its origins in this market.

Earlier, Woodland has been facing resistance in markets like the US where established brands like Timberland have been opposing its entry.

“The Woodland name is common and we have faced resistance from local companies who have already been using the name. When we were trying to file for registration of the brand in the US almost a decade ago, there was opposition from companies like Timberland. But now, we have made our peace with them,’’ he said.

Even in India, when Timberland (through Reliance Brands) had made its entry, there was a clash between both the ‘outdoor’ oriented brands but later they decided to co-exist.

Timberland has now exited the Indian market.

Meanwhile, Woodland has decided to stay away from the US and the UK markets as these are overcrowded for footwear and apparel.

“It is not going to be worth trying to enter the US or the UK, since these are saturated markets,’’ he added.

Woodland already has seven stores in Hong Kong, but has set up distributors and e-commerce in the rest of the markets in the SAARC and eastern Europe region.

It expects at least 40 per cent of its ₹1,200 crore turnover to come from the overseas markets.

The 24-year-old Woodland brand, one of the pioneers in Indian footwear retail, is now facing competition from a slew of international and domestic brands like Wildcraft, Columbia, Basecamp and Firefox in the ‘outdoor’ segment.

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