Room for Brazil in UK footwear market
08/10/2018
Abicalçados has announced that a VIP buyers’ programme it organised from October 1-4 in Rio Grande do Sul and São Paulo has won export contracts for Brazilian footwear manufacturers with UK-based group Scorpion Shoes.
Founded in 1999, Scorpion runs two stores in Camden in North London but says it also has a growing online business. Brands whose shoes it stocks already include Dr Martens, Red Wing, Camper and Clarks Originals. According to Abicalçados, buyers from Scorpion taking part in the October programme were pleasantly surprised by the quality of shoes on offer from from the Brazilian companies they visited.
Paola Pontin, an analyst working with Abicalçados, said after the visit that the UK market offers excellent potential for Brazilian manufacturers. She said the UK consumes around 530 million pairs of shoes per year and has one of the highest rates of per capita consumption in the world at around eight pairs per person per year.
Ms Pontin’s analysis also suggested that imports from China currently account for 70% of all the shoes sold in the UK, but that China is steadily losing market share, leaving space for suppliers from other parts of the world.
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