Reliance Retail, Bata form alliance for footwear vertical

BANGALORE: Reliance Retail is ensuring it gets the widest possible reach for its footwear business. The company has entered into a strategic alliance with Bata India to jump-start its footwear vertical.

With this alliance, Reliance will get access to India’s oldest and biggest footwear retailer’s 1,200 stores which are spread in every nook and corner of the country. Reliance Retail has entered into a distribution tie-up with Bata India to retail its private labels through Bata outlets, sources have confirmed.

It is a win-win situation for Bata India too as it gets an exclusive corner in all Reliance Footprint stores, the footwear format of Reliance Retail which are currently being rolled out across the country. ET had earlier this year reported that the two companies were in talks for a tie-up.

Through the Bata stores, Reliance Retail will sell its eight private footwear labels. The company has recently launched labels such as Mancini for mens, Viviana for women, Pittar Patter for infants, Monza for sportswear and Tosca for ladies party footwear.

Reliance Retail’s G Sankar, who heads the footwear division, was not available for comment while Bata India’s MD Marcello Villagram Bravo denied that the two companies were entering into any kind of alliance.

Reliance Retail had launched the Reliance Footprint format last month, with the first store opening in Bangalore. The company is targeting a turnover of Rs 3,000 crore in the next three years through 100 stores. Reliance Footprint is targeting a market share of 10% of the Rs 15,000-crore footwear market in India.

Bata India, a part of the global footwear giant Bata Shoe Organisation (BSO), was established in India in 1931 when they started manufacturing shoes in Batanagar, Kolkata. Since then Bata has become a family name with its namesake brand Bata, Hush Puppies, Dr Scholls, North Star and Power.

Bata India recorded a turnover of Rs 795 crore in 2006 calendar year. They have around 35% market share in the footwear market in India. The company currently sells over 45 million pairs of shoes every year. Globally, Toronto-based Bata operates 5,000 retail stores with presence in over 50 countries and runs 40 production facilities across 26 countries.