Metro Brands, the company that sells Crocs in India, plans to open new footwear stores by the end of 2025 and is hiring between 1,500 and 2,000 workers to staff them.
According to the CEO, Nissan Joseph, the company had 720 stores as of the end of 2022 and almost 4,000 employees overall. The expansion plan was announced in March 2022 and will include the addition of 260 new stores that sell brands such as Mochi, Walkaway, and Metro, in cities where the company is already present. Foray into smaller towns is also on the cards.
Joseph stated that to support the extra stores, the company would need more back office staff in addition to store workers. Spending power of people has seen a significant shift in recent times leading to the popularity of large retail chains which is a boon for stores like Metro. A huge growth margin of 68 per cent was reported by the company in revenue for the nine months ending Dec 31. Joseph attributes this growth to the middle-class incomes growing in India, saying that when incomes rise, people want better products and brands.
Following consumer trends, many well known apparel and footwear companies like Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger have also hit smaller towns where buying power and a craze for global brands holds them in good stead.
Metro already has a large presence in India and the brand’s exclusive stores selling Crocs are poised to benefit from the company’s plans to focus on sandals which are staple Indian footwear, said Joseph.
Crocs reported record revenue for 2022, with its Asia-Pacific business outgrowing North America. Joseph believes there is still a considerable runway for Crocs to continue to grow, which will benefit Metro’s business. Despite the positive growth, Metro’s shares have declined nearly 4 per cent so far in 2023, after climbing 93 per cent last year.
