FOOTWEAR-MAKER GEOX EXPECTS ASIAN SALES CONTRIBUTION TO DOUBLE NEXT YEAR

       Italian footwear-maker Geox expects Asian sales to double to 10 per cent of global turnover next year thanks to rapid growth in the region compared with markets like the US and Europe.
       Aldo Somaini, managing director, Geox Asia Pacific, said last week that the Asian market's contribution in terms of sales so far this year was 5 per cent.
       Geox last year sold more than 20 million pairs of shoes. It expects to maintain that number in 2009.
       Somaini said Geox was very confident that the contribution from Asia would double to 10 per cent next year because it believed that Asian consumers trust that the Geox brand will give them value for money. The company also plans to add stores in major shopping centres across the region.
       Geox shoes are ranked second in the Asian market in terms of sales.
       Company president Mario Moretti Polegato said last week that the Asia market so far this year showed better growth than the US and some European countries. The US had the highest sales drop.
       However, Polegato, who was recently ranked Italy's sixth-richest person by Forbes magazine, does not have a special marketing plan for emerging Asian markets, believing that sales in its major destinations will recover in line with the global economic situation. "We see an opportunity in Asian countries such as China. We have 120 shops in that country, and we also sell Geox in 7,000 shops there run by local partners. We expect to increase the number of shops in China," he said.
       Geox plans to increase the number of its shops by 150 locations around the world this year. It has so far opened 14 in Asia.
       Polegato said Thailand had been an important market for Geox since becoming the first country in Asia to introduce the brand 11 years ago. Thailand is also one of the two countries authorised by Geox to produce shoes for the domestic market. The other country is Japan.
       Jane Chongsatitwatana, assistant president, AA Footwear - the distributor of Geox in Thailand - said Geox's sales in the Thai market had increased by 3 per cent so far this year, over the same period last year. The company expects the number to climb to 10 per cent by year-end.