Shoe retailer Bata plans new stores
Change of strategy at shoe retailer Bata: The company plans to open new stores in Switzerland this year. Last year, Bata had largely withdrawn from the retail trade.
Bata general manager Alexis Nasard announced in an interview with the French-speaking Swiss newspaper Matin Dimanche that the shoe retailer intends to open new stores in Switzerland this year and also expand in the European market.
Bata had closed 29 stores across Switzerland last year, with five remaining, Nasard said. However, he did not say how many new stores will now be reopened.
When it closed its stores, the company had announced that it only wanted to be present on the Swiss market with a web store. At the time, the shoe retailer cited the strong franc and competition from online retail as reasons.
Now Nasard said that while online sales were growing, in footwear retailing 88 percent of sales were still in-store. In Europe, he said, the company makes about 25 percent of sales.
