Adidas 1st to get 100% FDI approval for stores

NEW DELHI: German sporting goods maker Adidas AG has become the first multinational sportswear company to get government nod to open 100% foreign-owned stores in India.
Adidas operates around 760 Adi das, Adidas Originals and Reebok ranchise retail stores in the country . It will open its first company-owned store in the second half of 2016.
"We are delighted and thankful on being given the go-ahead to introduce our own retail format stores.We strongly believe own retail will enable us to take our market leadership position to an even higher level.It will give us additional flexibility to bring in global concepts across all categories in larger stores, thereby enabling us to further enhance the premium experience for our consu mers," said Dave Thomas, MD of Adidas Group India.
Roland Auschel, head of global sales and member of executive board at Adidas, said India could be among its top five markets by 2020, up from number eight. Auschel had outlined the financial constraints the company faced under the franchise-led model that stopped it from opening high-impact flagship stores here, measuring around 5,000 square metres. A typical Adidas store in India measures around 100-500 square metres.
"While we are excited to introduce our own large footprint stores here, we continue to be committed to our partners and will strengthen our existing and successful franchise distribution network. We would like to take the number of our stores up to 1,000 by 2020," said Thomas.