Brazilian footwear manufacturer Alpargatas has opened an office in New York and is launching a new marketing campaign. Its new slogan 'Feet also dream' is designed to make its Havaianas flip-flops synonymous with comfort for US consumers. The company will sell its sandals outside Brazil for the first time rather than simply distributing them abroad.
It hopes to increase US sales from the current 2.5 million pairs sold annually, which constitutes just 15% of its Havaianas exports. In Brazil, 145 million pairs are sold annually.
Meanwhile, Calçados Arezzo has revealed its intention to open 25 new shops in Portugal by 2015, in partnership with Portuguese entrepreneur António Marques Alegre. The first Arezzo shop in Portugal opened in March in Lisbon and another is to open in September. Its director Mário Goldberg commented: “If you work in fashion, Europe is the place to be and what better way is there to penetrate this market than through a country whose culture is so close to ours?” The company’s 2006 revenues totalled R$325 million (approximately $165 million) from its network of 200 shops.
Furthermore, Novo Hamburgo-based ladies' shoe and accessories manufacturer Via Uno has opened a new shop in Milan, its first shop in Italy. It currently has 51 shops outside Brazil and is planning to open a second shop in Italy in the near future, this time in Turin.
