Antilopa looks at domestic market

Before 1989, anyone sporting a pair of Antilopa shoes was either part of the Communist party elite or had a friend working in a shoe shop. Over the last few years, though, the massive imports, the emergence of a number of private shoemakers, as well as the significant exports of Antilopa have almost completely erased this brand from the minds of the Romanian consumers. The footwear producer is now planning to reclaim the domestic market. The company made more than 1.6 million pairs of footwear last year, 93.5% of which were exported. The main export outlets for Antilopa are Italy and England. This year, however, the Antilopa management decided to boost its production share aimed at the domestic market to 10% instead of the 6.5% in 2002. The company officials feel this shift to the domestic market will lead to an about 200bn ROL (some 6 million euro) turnover, up 11% from last year. “This turnover growth estimated for 2003 will be primarily due to our plans to boost the output share aimed at the domestic market,” general manager Teodor Costea told Ziarul Financiar. He added the domestic market was becoming more profitable for the company, because the added value was higher than that provided by exports, where Antilopa was operating under outsourcing contracts. This strategy is already being implemented, with Antilopa posting more than 55bn ROL (some 1.5 million euros) in Q1 turnover, 35.9% of which derived from sales on the domestic market. ZF