Skechers Absorbs Indian Subsidiary

According to a company statement, India has been one of the fastest-growing and biggest international markets for Skechers.

“Skechers is still a relatively young brand in this country, having been in India for less than a decade, yet in the last five years, we have seen significant growth through our joint venture,” says Michael Greenberg, president, Skechers. “The substantial existing retail network of over 200 stores, a strong wholesale business and a recently launched e-commerce site is a solid foundation that we can build upon. These accomplishments, as well as opportunities we see to increase the brand’s exposure and drive sales, give us great optimism and confidence for the growth of Skechers in India.”

Skechers currently operates 223 retail stores in India, 61 of which will be run by Skechers, while the others will continue to be owned by third parties. The company plans to expand with 80 to 100 stores this year. Of those stores 20 will be owned and operated by Skechers.

“Few markets match the potential for growth of India, which is why we entered the market initially, and why we recently decided to purchase the minority stake in our joint venture,” says David Weinberg, chief operating officer, Skechers. “The effort of our team has resulted in significant growth as illustrated in our year-over-year numbers. 2018 saw double-digit increases in wholesale and retail sales and an 80-percent increase in pairs sold, reaching 2.7 million. We believe the strength of our diverse product and our marketing insight will help expand our product offering in India. As a subsidiary, we will be able to leverage our capital, product, logistics and business model to better maximize our brand exposure to the 1.3 billion consumers in this country. We expect this change to be accretive to our earnings.”

The Skechers India subsidiary will continue operating in its existing structure and from its current headquarter in Mumbai.