Hong Kong’s diversity of lifestyles makes it an attractive destination for a regional base, according to the MD of Birkenstock Asia Pacific, David Gravet.
“It is certainly a platform in Asia for brands to flourish,” says Gravet, who has lived in Asia for 20 years and worked in Hong Kong for more than 10 of them for major sporting goods and fashion brands.
Now Gravet heads up German footwear creator Birkenstock’s Asia Pacific operation which last year chose to open its headquarters in the territory to drive retail growth throughout the region.
Over the past 25 years, Asian-Pacific has proven a fertile ground for growth of the Birkenstock brand – especially in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.
In 2014, the German brand decided to step up by establishing a sales office and distribution centre in Hong Kong to meet its ambitious goal to develop both its own monobrand retail store networks and wholesale channels via leading shoe distributors.
InvestHK provided the company with information on the operational environment, government schemes to support retailers, and connections with tertiary institutions.
As of 2014, Birkenstock was distributed to over 200 monobrand franchise stores and leading shoe chain stores across Asia. Its distributor operates one of its concept stores in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Apart from the classic footbed sandals, the shop also offers a diversity of shoe collections and its children’s products are gaining popularity. Unique to the brand are in-shop repair services and showcases of the evolution of its original collections, which are named after major cities.
“Hong Kong is close to our markets, which allows us to work with our distributors and strategic retail partners more effectively. The city also gives us access to a highly productive and efficient workforce,” said Oliver Reichert, CEO of Birkenstock Group.
“The ease of doing business and quality of the manpower also adds to its appeal. The employees here have the right skills and regional experience we need to grow and transform our business.”
With more than 240 years of experience in the fine art of shoemaking, Birkenstock ’s knowledge has been maintained from one generation to the next to guarantee high quality. The brand has also established an image that represents close attention to detail and eco-friendly production with the use of long-lasting and sustainable materials, all helping to protect the environment.
“The company has a long and rich history and has evolved from a manufacturer to one of the world’s top shoe brands. Hong Kong remains one of the key fashion scenes in Asia and a strategic platform to launch new collections towards emerging sophisticated consumers,” Markus Bensberg, CEO of Birkenstock Group, said.
The role of the regional sales office is to provide guidance to distributors and drive omni-channel strategy with a focus on Greater China, Japan and southeast Asian markets.
Meanwhile, Gravet says he enjoys the work-life balance of Hong Kong very much.
“Hong Kong is a convenient and compact city and is very flexible to travel around. The infrastructure is strong and traffic is good.”