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SOURCING & SUPPLY CHAIN
WORLD FOOTWEAR | MARCH/APRIL 2012
G
lobal trade has been at the heart of China’s rise to
prosperity and its new status as the second-biggest
economy in the world. However, this global outlook
exposes it to the downs as well as the ups in the
world economy, and the International Monetary Fund warned
at the beginning of February that ongoing concerns over the
European economy could reduce growth in China this year by
almost half. Initial predictions were for 9% growth this year.
This came down to 8.2% before 2012 was a month old, and
now the IMF says four more percentage points could be
shaved off this owing to Europe’s difficulties.
Smart companies have already begun to make the domestic
market in China at least as much of a priority as exports. In
particular, footwear firms that have successfully tailored the
design of their collections and their marketing to Chinese
consumers are continuing to enjoy good times.
Hong Kong-based footwear group Belle International
opened an astonishing total of 2,983 new retail outlets in
mainland China in the course of 2011. In a statement on
January 12, the company said that 1,100 of these new stores
opened in the fourth quarter of last year. The new stores take
Belle’s total retail presence in mainland China to 14,950
outlets, all directly managed by the Belle International group.
Of these, 10,270 stores are devoted to footwear, with the
others selling sportswear. At the start of 2012, Belle also laid
the foundations for a new corporate headquarters in Hong
Experts are lowering their forecasts of
growth for China’s economy in 2012,
but one of the region’s biggest footwear
brands is intent on continuing a
programme of rapid retail expansion
throughout mainland China.
Thousands of
new shoe stores
in China