MALAPPURAM: If Brazil and Argentina stay in action long enough at this World Cup, it will translate into good business for sports-related goods in the state. The garment and apparels business groups are cashing in on the football crazy market in Kerala, selling merchandise of major teams. The June-July period, usually an off-season for the sports goods market, has been witnessing a positive trend this year, thanks to the FIFA World Cup.
According to Ismail, distributor of Nexo and VKC footwear in various districts in the state, almost 90 per cent of the products in the World Cup category were sold out within two months’ time. “Most of the shops have placed orders for more products, which will be difficult for us to supply,” he said. Apart from footwear, there is a huge demand for jerseys, caps, umbrellas, mufflers, kerchiefs and flags of various football-playing nations. The products mainly come from Mumbai and Punjab. They are also being imported from countries like Taiwan and China.
“The footwear industry has clearly taken advantage of the football frenzy of Malayalis, especially in the Malabar region. Footwear is the latest addition to the football-related products hitting the market during the World Cup season. The atmosphere is very much favourable for the local footwear manufacturers,” Ismail said.
Rajith Mullassery, advertising in-charge of Nexo Footwear, said they couldn’t meet the surging demand for football-related footwear.
“We had introduced sandals with the design and team colours of Brazil and Argentina two months ago as an experiment. This apart, footwear in the team colours of Germany and England were also introduced. These products are still moving fast even after the commencement of the tournament. Football fans are even buying the products directly from the apparel manufacturers. We are selling around 1,500 pairs of soccer-based footwear daily in the state,” Rajith said.
The sports section at Edumart Academic Hyper Market in Kozhikode has registered a record sale of sports products in the last two months. They have touched Rs 10-lakh mark in the sales of World Cup-related goods sale during the period.
“Business worth around Rs 6-Rs 7 lakh took place in the last one month. It was supposed to be off-season for sports goods in the state with the onset of monsoon. But, our sales doubled than the normal case. Sometimes, we even went out of stock this season,” said Abrar, sports section head, Educmart.
“We are getting huge response from children for bags, footwear and umbrella. But there is limitation for children as they have to wear uniforms in schools. They prefer to exhibit their support for a team publicly through the bags and umbrellas,” said Abdul Amar, a footwear showroom owner.
Growth for Sports Goods Sector
Kochi: The total size of the sports goods and equipment industry in the state is estimated at around Rs 60-70 crore and maintains a steady growth rate of 10-15 per cent annually. The major sports products sold in the state are related to football, cricket, badminton and fitness equipment. There are around 500 sports goods shops in the state, and most of them fall in the small-scale category. Inflatable balls, cricket bats, general fitness equipment, sports net and protective gear for cricket alone account for 54 per cent share of the total sports goods exports.