China: Xtep aims to add 500 stores by end of the year
According to Chinese sportswear brand Xtep International Holdings, China’s sportswear industry will grow between 15 to 18% this year and next.
In light of this, Xtep, part-owned by the Carlyle Group, will continue to open stores in smaller Chinese cities where there's room for expansion, CFO Terry Ho said. According to Mr Ho, sales grew by approximately 20% in the past four quarters.
“We have the room and space to increase roughly a few hundred stores per year,” Mr Ho said. “The store expansion is natural following the market expansion.”
Xtep has 7,300 stores and may add about 500 by the end of 2011, Mr Ho said. The Fujian-province based company targets mass-market customers in second-tier cities.
The company has focused expansion outside Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
