It was reported by ET Now on Friday that the U.S. footwear and sportswear retailer Foot Locker Inc is in talks with Metro Brands Ltd to enter the Indian market.
ET Now tweeted that Foot Locker, which retails popular footwear brands including Adidas and Nike Inc, is in discussions with four Indian players to appoint a franchise. The details of the companies were not disclosed.
Foot Locker and Metro Brands did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Metro Brands Chief Executive Nissan Joseph told Reuters on Wednesday, “The rising affluence in the country and a shift in consumer spending from mom-and-pop stores to bigger chains have set Metro up for sales gains.”
More about Footlocker
Foot Locker Retail, Inc. is an American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in 28 countries.
Although established in 1974, and founded as a separate company in 1988, Foot Locker’s roots date to 1879, as it is a successor corporation to the F. W. Woolworth Company (“Woolworth’s”), which changed its name to Foot Locker in 2001, as many of its freestanding stores were Kinney Shoes and Woolworth’s locations. The company operates the eponymous “Foot Locker” chain of athletic footwear retail outlets (along with “Kids Foot Locker” and “Lady Foot Locker” stores), and other athletic-based divisions including Champs Sports, Footaction USA, House of Hoops, and Eastbay/Footlocker.com, which owns the rights to Final-Score. The company is also famous for its employees’ uniforms at its flagship Foot Locker chain, resembling those of referees.
More about Metro Band
Metro Brand building in Kolaba, Mumbai. Image source: Wikipedia
Metro Brands, previously known as Metro Shoes, is an Indian multi-brand footwear retail company based in Mumbai. Metro Brands operates from a network of 598 Metro showrooms across 136 cities in India.
Metro started as a standalone shoe store in 1955 in Colaba, Mumbai. It was named after the Metro Cinema which was located nearby. The company was incorporated in January 1977 as Metro Shoes.
In 2013, the company announced that it was able to expand the number of its retails stores due to low rental rates, particularly in tier II cities.
In 2015, Metro signed an agreement with Crocs to open exclusive Crocs stores in India.
In December 2021, the company launched its ₹1,367.5 crore(US$170 million) initial public offering (IPO).
