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Premium home-grown leather brand, Kompanero, is looking to enter new overseas markets, particularly the Scandanavian countries; even as it ramps up domestic presence in Tier-I cities.
The new markets it is exploring include Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
Kompanero, which means companion in Latin, has a presence across 1,000-odd boutique stores in Australia, New Zealand, US, across the Europe, US and the UK. It recently opened a flagship store at Central London.
Australia and New Zealand continue to be its strong overseas market.
According to Indranath Sengupta, Co-founder and CEO, Kompanero, nearly 50 per cent of its turnover comes from overseas. He, however, did not share turnover details. The brand continues to be profitable though.
“We have been witnessing between 70 and 100 per cent growth year-on-year so far. Our focus continues to be on differentiated offerings which include some amount of handcrafting,” he told BusinessLine .
Owned by Kolkata-based ASG Leather Pvt Ltd, the brand began its journey in 2014. It currently has 30-odd stores (all company-owned) across India. According to Sengupta, the brand has set a target to open over 10 company-owned stores every year focussing on premium locations, including airports. It has also initiated discussions with organised retailers for “shop-in-shop” formats.
Kompanero has its own manufacturing facility in Kolkata and has invested around ₹10 crore. Leather accessories, small leather goods and bags are mostly produced from the facility; while other offerings like shoes and jackets are sourced from third parties.
While the brand competes with Indian counterparts such as Hidesign and Da Milano, it differentiates itself by having a ‘vintage inspired look’ across its offerings, apart from having some amount of handcrafting. “We use vegetable tanned leather and have developed this technology whereby our offerings have the vintage look,” he added.
While the company remains boot-strapped and profitable, Sengupta says they neither have any active plans for fund-raising; nor are they closed to the idea. “We can consider fund raising, if we get enticed by an offer,” he said.
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