Chennai: French shoe brand Kickers is entering the Indian retail market . Kothari Industrial Corporation (KICL), which has signed an MoU with the French company Royer Group — the manufacturer of Kickers — will be setting up the brand’s first fashion store in the country in Chennai soon. While this marks KICL’s direct entry into the retail segment of finished leather and non-leather products, a plant to manufacture Kickers shoes and accessories is also planned in Tamil Nadu.
J Rafiq Ahmed, MD, KICL said, the licensing pact with Royer Group is for marketing various products of Kickers brand such as footwear, apparels and accessories covering nine countries including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. “We will be establishing the first fashion store of the French brand in India in Chennai by July. We are investing Rs 100 crore to set up similar experience centres across metros over the next five years,” he told TOI.
The fashion stores would be expanded in tier-2 cities including Coimbatore, he added. Ahmed said, their company is looking at setting up an exclusive plant to manufacture Kickers shoes and accessories in the state in collaboration with the Royer Group. “The French company will provide all support and assistance to make quality products at the factory ,” he added.
Kickers shoes are already manufactured in Tamil Nadu for exports. School shoes under that brand alone are made at Ambur in the state for the past two years and are.