First store for "breathing" shoes

The Italian maker of the Geox shoes, which produces the so-called “breathing shoes”, will open its first store in Bucharest next month. The company manufactures 10 million euros’ worth of shoes in Romania, all of which until now had been sold abroad. “The Geox-branded shoes will effectively come onto the Romanian market in about one month’s time, and pricing in Romania will match the target consumer segment for this brand: the medium and high (income) consumer,” announced Mario Moretti Polegato, the company’s chairman. He went on to say that further stores might be opened in Romania depending on results from the Bucharest market. Company officials say the new strategy will turn Romanians from producers into users of the “breathing” shoes. The shoes, which use a semiporous membrane that allows perspiration to leave while not allowing water to enter the shoe, are currently available only at a handful of locations around the country that have Geox stands. They retail for around 80 euros. ZF