Adidas has planned to launch a new collection named after Indian tennis player Sania Mirza. This is the first time that Adidas will globally roll out a dedicated merchandise line after a tennis player.
Targeting 15- to 27-year-olds, the Sania Mirza collection will include apparel, headgear, accessories, bags and sporting gear. The lifestyle portfolio of the collection will be launched in September and sports gear by January 2009. The collection will be retailed worldwide through Adidas stores.
Speaking about the price of the collection, Andreas Gellner, MD, Adidas India (marketing), said, “While we are yet to finalise the pricing, the apparel range will have price points between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,500. We may also add a shoe line to the collection.”
Besides, the company is also planning to expand its India operations by increasing the number of retail outlets. Adidas, which presently operates around 325 franchise outlets, plans to take the count to around 450 by the end of 2008.
However, the high retail rentals in the country have slowed down the company’s India expansion plans. Talking about real estate prices, Gellner said that the prevailing rentals in India are not realistic. “Rise in real estate prices has been affecting our growth plans in India. Typically, the rentals should be around 15 to17 per cent of turnover per square foot. But in India, it is more than 20 per cent per square foot, and in some cases it is around 40 per cent per square foot,” Gellner informed.
