Reebok's giant stride
It is billed as the largest REEBOK store in the world. Spread over 15,000 sq. ft and across three floors on the upmarket Jubilee Hills Road of Hyderabad, it is meant to give a leg-up to the single-brand shopping experience. Riding up an escalator surrounded by a two-storey high glass wall stacked with footwear reveals the huge range on display.
There are some 400 different types of footwear to choose from. There are shoes ranging from Rs 2,290 to Rs 8,000, fitness bags in the Rs 999-1999 range, kids shoes from Rs 1,290 to Rs 2,490 and T-shirts that start at Rs 299. Formal footwear that costs around Rs 5,000 is also available. Products at the store are displayed by categories such as ‘Running’, ‘Walking’, ‘Aerobics’, ‘Tennis’, ‘Cricket’ and ‘Lifestyle’. There are also individual customised sections for fitness, sports, and lifestyle.
As Reebok sees it, “a stupendous cornucopia of women’s dance, fitness, training, and sports collection is also present at the store.” The store also has a corner—‘Kreate Your Own Shoe’— in which customers can actually design their own shoes by choosing the colour, lace, type of sole etc., and get it in about two weeks.
“Largest did not necessarily mean size for us; it is more to do with the shopping experience and to offer the customer a huge choice,” says Subhinder Singh Prem, Managing Director, Reebok India.
But why did Reebok choose to do all this in Hyderabad? “It is one of the important markets for us. It is the second-largest after Bangalore in the south and the sixth-largest for us in the country,” explains Prem.
That is one reason for Reebok going up from just four stores in the city two years ago to 23 outlets today. Given the restrictions on foreign direct investment in retail, Reebok has opted for a franchise model in India. And this super-size store, too, is one such franchise outlet. The plan now is to grow its presence not just across the country but also in Tier-II and Tier-III cities and towns.
“India is a clear growth market for us and we have been adding a new store in the country every second day this year,” says Prem. This has meant an increase in the total number of stores from 390 in December 2006 to around 505 at last count. And it is not just in Hyderabad that Reebok has huge stores.
The one opened in Kolkata last year is spread across 10,000 sq. ft. There is also a 5,000 sq. ft store in Mumbai. But the Hyderabad outlet is the biggest—till date.
