Brantano, the out-of-town footwear retailer, is to focus its marketing on women in an effort to boost footfall in its UK stores.
The Belgian company, which has 129 stores in the UK, has also revealed strong sales for the year to the end of December 2003. Turnover for the UK business - which includes five Middle Eastern shops - came to EUR144.9 million (£100.1 million), compared with EUR132.5 million (£91.6 million) in 2002.
Chief financial officer Christine Vermeersch said Brantano fared well partly because of its aggressive marketing. 'This year our marketing will be more focused on ladies. They buy for themselves, for their husbands and their children, so she's the more important one,' said Vermeersch.
The UK market represents approximately 50 per cent of group turnover.
Brantano plans to increase its UK market share from 2 per cent to 5 per cent over three years, and will open 10 UK stores in 2004.
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