Bata India to strengthen retail footprint by adding 500 franchise stores

By

Maverick Martins

Published
Aug 6, 2019

Footwear major Bata India is looking to strengthen its retail presence in India with the addition of 500 new franchise stores over the next five years.
 

The company will open as many as 100 stores every year, with a focus on tier 2 to 4 market, in a bid to widen its base in the Indian market. It will also close down or renovate 25 to 30 of its non-performing stores annually.
 
Bata India had posted strong Q1 results with a net profit at Rs 101 crore ($14.5 million) and revenue of Rs 883 crore on the back of strong sales from across the country.

"We now have 150 franchise stores. We are looking to get about 500 franchise stores. These will be single-store towns. That means we are looking at 500 towns. We have charted out a five-year plan for this," company CEO Sandeep Kataria said.
 
"About 85 percent of sales come from our retail and franchisee outlets, and the rest from multi-brand stores and e-commerce channels," Kataria added.
 
Talking about the company’s expansion plans, Bata India chairman Uday Khanna said: "We have plans to open 100 stores every year and would close 25 to 30, which are either at the wrong place or not making profits. We tend to continue to keep this pace.”
 
During the fiscal year 2018-19, Bata India opened 71 new retail stores and 51 franchise ones. It also renovated 47 outlets and closed down 28 of its non-performing stores.