FitFlop, a United Kingdom-based footwear brand recently announced plans to expand into Vietnam, China, and other Asian countries.
After speaking at the launch of the company’s first exclusive store in Chennai, India, FlipFlop CEO, Gianni Georgiades, shared his intention to expand the company's operations into other regions of Asia, including Vietnam and China, according to a report from the Hindu Business Line. The company is also looking at Thailand to diversify manufacturing while considering additional manufacturing opportunities in India.
“From the manufacturing point of view, it’s currently Asia right now, particularly Vietnam and China,” Georgiades said. “We are also looking at Thailand to diversify our manufacturing. A part of our operations team is currently visiting potential manufacturing locations here in India.”
FitFlop recently entered a strategic partnership with Metro Brands to exclusively offer FitFlop footwear in India across various platforms aimed at building the company’s presence and sales in India, according to Hindu Business Line. Through the partnership, Metro and Mochi stores, in addition to various multi-brand outlets, e-commerce, and online marketplaces, will offer FlipFlop merchandise. In India, Metro plans to open a series of FitFlop exclusive brand outlets in Tier-2 and 3 cities.
“We have a new global brand strategy that’s been created over the past 12 months and India forms one of the strategic pillars of that strategy," Georgiades said. "The country is one of the biggest open-toe markets in the world and we feel that we have an opportunity to deliver our products here. Secondly, there’s an opportunity to produce local for local, which is also something that we’re investigating.”
FitFlop, launched in 2007 by Canadian entrepreneur Marcia Kilgore, specializes in bio-mechanically designed footwear costing around 7,000 rupees ($90) on average, Hindu Business Line reported. The company’s products are available in nearly 65 countries.