British footwear and accessory retailer Dune London has gone both East and West as it aims to become a global brand.
The company on Friday opened flagships in both Manhattan and in Mumbai, further expanding its current 100 freestanding stores worldwide as well as 200 shop-in-shops in department stores.
The 2,000-square-foot store on Broadway in SoHo is Dune’s first in the U.S., while the store at the Palladium mall in Mumbai is its first in that city and the fourth in India.
“We’re launching in two very important markets at the same time. I think it is just fantastic that it has come together at the same time,” John Egan, chief operating officer of Dune London, told WWD. “Both stores are outside our home market and the fact that the styles appeal to customers across the world speaks for itself.”
Darshan Mehta, chief operating officer and president of Reliance Brands, which is the Indian partner for Dune, said, “New York, with its strong sales and huge tourist traffic, represents the present for the brand, but a market like Mumbai which is just at the cusp of growing consumerism, represents the future. It is a bit of serendipity that both the launches have come together at the same time.”
He also explained the difference between the two markets with a pizza metaphor: “In a mature market like the U.S., you have to go and take over someone else’s slice of pizza. In Mumbai you have to create your own pizza.”
Reliance Brands has brought more than a dozen global brands into India, including Steve Madden, Thomas Pink, Diesel, Stuart Weitzman and recently signed up BCBG Max Aria. The company has 155 monobrand stores as well as 45 shop in shops for its brands across India.
Egan admitted a New York opening has taken a while for the brand, which began international expansion about a decade ago with a store in Dubai. “We wanted to be sure that we did not make the mistakes some other brands have done that have failed in the U.S.,” Egan explained. “Opening a store in New York is fraught with difficulties. We did a lot of market research before launching here, including a showroom in Nordstrom and a Web site that we launched last year.”
He said that the aim was to open 10 to 20 stores over the next five years in the U.S. The store in SoHo will be followed by another in the Westfield World Trade Center shopping center in lower Manhattan in 2015.
Dune London is not hiding its British origin as it launches in New York, and marrying this with a great deal of technology. A London phone box outside the store prints Instagram pictures; orders are taken on iPads to ensure speed and efficiency, Egan said.
Egan observed that the best shoes tend to follow global fashion trends – for example, women are buying ankle length boots. These could be low or high heels, although the real trend is toward low boots. There has also been a real return to ladies wearing pumps in spring, that has continued.
Meanwhile, the growth in India is expected to continue.
Mehta estimated the premium footwear market is worth about $100 million at this time, and said that the market was growing very fast — “it could double every year provided there is an adequate supply of retail,” he said.
Some factors that have been holding back growth in the footwear market in India include high state taxes, which range from 8 to 12 percent in different states, compared to 4 percent in all the states for apparel. Customs duties for shoes are also double those for apparel in India.
Egan said the stores indicate Dune’s commitment to global expansion, which is expected to see the brand’s overseas stores increase to 150 over the next three years from 50 currently.
“Major expansion will be a key part of the future,” he said.