The future seems to be uncertain for FootMart Retail India Ltd, a joint venture between Pantaloon Retail India Ltd(Future Group) and Liberty shoes Ltd. signed in 2007.
According to a business daily, Kishore Biyani, CEO, Pantaloon Retail India Ltd (Future Group), said, “The business did not take off the way we had expected and we are looking at ways to take it forward. But both sides will continue to be partners in the business.”
Sources said the large size of the format, ‘Shoe Factory’ was affecting its profitability as many such stores were not getting either adequate or the kind of preffered space in malls, required for a footwear focused speciality format. Reports suggest that the JV partners might consider restructuring and launch a smaller format option to work around this problem.
The footwear retail chain was expected to rope in profits for both partners with such a concept being a first in the country retailing both branded and unbranded footwear under one roof.
