(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The Middle East is stable and a growing market for Italian shoe maker Moreschi and its top official said the company will continue to expand in the region.
Moreschi has been manufacturing made-in-Italy shoes since 1946. In addition, the company also produces leather accessories and leather jackets. Dubai-based multi-retail conglomerate Apparel Group represents the Moreschi brand in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Moreschi shoes have graced the feet of the famous and the not so famous, from the worlds of cinema - Richard Burton, Liam Neeson, Adrien Brody - of music - Michael Jackson, James Brown, Johnny Cash - and of sport - Michael Jordan, Novak Djokovic, Alberto Tomba. Moreschi shoes have also been worn by Popes and heads of states including Nelson Mandela.
"It [the Middle East] is a very stable market for the company. We have stores in Dubai and Qatar in addition to some retail spread out to some stores in the GCC," chief operating officer Mario Moreschi told Khaleej Times in an interview.
"We would like to expand our presence first in Dubai and then we will explore other opportunities may be in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jeddah from next year."
The company has recently opened a shop in Tehran, and it is considering another shop by the end of 2015, according to Moreschi, who belongs to the third generation of the Moreschi family. He is in charge of every production process, logistics department and customer service, and also a member of the Moreschi board.
Moreschi arrived in Dubai for the new concept store of the company in The Dubai Mall last week. Talking about the new concept, he said: "It's a little bit more artistic and there is a concept of design. Shoes on display are more in a creative way."
Elaborating the concept, he said that it's very important and it helped increase footfall and sales in other stores on the same concept across the globe. The company started the new concept five years ago, he said.
He said that the company has been witnessing a single-digit year-on-year growth in sales for the last five years. New stores help increase overall sales growth, he added. "We hope to maintain the grown level in coming years," he said.
He mentioned that the company has 10 stores in its home market Italy and 28 more globally. A majority of overseas stores is standalone shops and some of them are shop in shop.
Last year, Moreschi recorded ‚¬40 million sales and international sales contribute around 75 per cent of the total turnover, he said.
"The domestic market is very important for us as we have loyal customers. Since Italy is a very popular as a tourist country, we get a lot of foreign buyers from the Middle East, China among others," he said.
This year Italy is hosting a mega exhibition, Expo Milano, starting from May 1 for six months.
"We have our flagship four-floor store in Milano, which generated the highest sales volume last year and we expect another significant increase in sales because of this World Expo and another textile event this year," he explained.
Talking about the company's production facility, he said it produces 250,000 pairs a year.
"We have the capacity to add another 50 per cent of our production by just employing more people as we already have the required machinery," he responded to a question for meeting the demand after opening new stores in different countries.
New collections
Moreschi also launched new Spring Summer 2015 collections for men and women at the new concept store last week.
The Spring Summer 2015 collection encloses the different souls of the Moreschi style that all share the lowest common denominators of the passion and devotion that the Maison puts into its work in order to reach maximum quality, giving the utmost care and attention to every single detail, focusing on craftsmanship which uses experience and heart, a truly Italian talent, an art which makes Moreschi stand out all over the world and makes its products synonymous with excellence.
The Moreschi woman is a fresh new lady, a young lady with good taste, fresh and dynamic who has enjoys playing with colour, adding it with ease to her elegant and formal look.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.