Payless Shoe Source Philippines

On the homefront, Collective Brands Inc., the Kansas owner of several footwear chains, whas brought its first Payless Shoe Source stores to the Philippines. The retailer will open in as many as seven locations in the country within the next 12 months, Chief Executive Officer Matthew Rubel said today during a telephone interview. Collective Brands has partnered with a franchise partner, Stores Specialists Inc., based in the Philippines.

The move marks the next stage of international growth for Collective Brands, which will also expand the number of stores it operates in the Middle East and open in Russia, Rubel said. Shoes are a category on which consumers in emerging markets tend to spend as their incomes increase, and Filipino consumers already have “high footwear consumption,” he said.

It was estimated that the Philippine market might support as many as 80 stores. The shoe retailer is also looking at other emerging countries in Asia.

Store Specialists manages 72 brands and 340 stores in the Philippines, including Gucci Group NV, Cartier, Nina Ricci, Marks and Spencer and Zara. Payless has more than 4,500 stores in North and South America and the Middle East.

Last July 27, Payless Shoe Source brought the affordable chic phenomenon to the Philippines with the soft opening of the first store in Festival Mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa City. The grand opening was held on July 30. Were you there? This month, Payless will bring in its designer collections to the Philippines and that will include designs by Lela Rose, Alice + Olivia, Siriano and Toledo. Prices for these shoes will be from P2,000 to P3,000, still very reasonable considering that a Christian Siriano pair is about $40 in the US.

Payless in the Philippines will carry Airwalk, Dexter, Champion and the “green line" Zoe and Zac. The store also carries Patricia Fields accessories, including the clover necklace worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City 2. Payless will carry up to size 13 for men and 12 for women in different widths from narrow to very wide. Watch out for the opening of the other branches (Shangri-La Plaza, SM Megamall, Ali Mall, Greenhills Shoppesville, Rockwell, Market! Market!, Robinsons Galleria, and Marquee Mall in Pampanga)!