New Balance’s India partner Brandman to expand fivefold, add global brands, exec says

By Praveen Paramasivam

June 9 (Reuters) – U.S. sneaker brand New Balance’s India partner, Brandman Retail, plans to more than quintuple its store count by 2028 and introduce brands such as France’s Salomon, betting on rising demand for global labels, an executive said.

India’s affluent consumers are splurging on everything from skincare to premium liquor, helped by rising incomes and social media-driven awareness of global trends, making the country a focus for companies such as Estee Lauder and Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman.

The country’s sports goods and apparel market is expected to double to $58 billion by 2030, driven by rising fitness awareness and discretionary spending, according to a late-2024 Google-Deloitte report.

“Everyone sees India as a price-sensitive market. But we have seen a big, big shift over the past two years, especially post-COVID, from being price-driven to value-driven,” Kashika Malhotra, director at Brandman, told Reuters in an interview.

On Walmart-owned online shopping platform Myntra, New Balance women’s shoes were priced at 1,891-25,999 rupees ($19.77-$271.84), compared to 1,199-27,999 rupees for Adidas and Nike.

Brandman, which operates 14 New Balance stores and eight multi-brand Sneakrz outlets, plans to expand to 45 locations by April 2027, adding stores for global brands including Saucony, Anta and Wilson, before growing to 116 by 2028.

Brandman is expanding beyond major metros into cities such as Jaipur and Patna in northern India as consumers in smaller markets grow more aware of global brands.

“You see consumers in Lucknow and Chandigarh coming in asking for specific shoes and colours they’ve seen online. They’re very well researched,” Malhotra said. “My most profitable outlet is in Lucknow.”

For fiscal year 2026, Brandman revenue climbed 20% from a year earlier to 1.62 billion rupees, while profit after tax also increased roughly by the same magnitude to 252.9 million rupees, according to an investor presentation.

($1 = 95.6425 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Harikrishnan Nair)