Woodland to tap North East markets for growth

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Dec 14, 2017

Adventure apparel and footwear major Woodland is looking to tap into the North East market of India for future growth and plans to add 10 stores in different cities by end of 2018.
 

Woodland has been witnessing strong sales growth from its stores its existing stores in North Eastern cities of Kolkata, Guwahati, Tezpur, Gangtok, Shillong and Agartala.
 
Even though Woodland generates majority of its revenue from metro cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi and Kolkata profitability of its North East stores has prompted the firm to further expand its presence in the cities.

Woodland is optimistic that the expansion in the north eastern region will reap benefits for the company in the long run. The company is so confident that all 10 stores planned in the region will be fully owned by Woodland.

Apart from the lucrative metro market of Kolkata, the company has identified tier II cities like Tezpur, Guwahati, Aizawl, Itanagar and Kohima to open its new stores.
 
“We will look to tap the North East. Woodland has been slow in tapping the region as we weren’t sure how the area will react to our offerings. But, with some of the existing stores there turning profitable in quick succession, we are confident of doing good business there,” Harkirat Singh, Managing Director was quoted as saying by BusinessLine.
 
“We found a lot of pent-up demand for our outdoor offerings like footwear and jackets. Our outdoor offerings would also be a good fit in the hilly regions of the North East,” he added.
 
Woodland is expecting is revenue to jump 15 percent to Rs1350 crore (approx $210.8 million) for the financial year 2017-18. The brand currently has 600 company-owned stores and is present in over 5,000 multi- retail outlets across the country.