Italian footwear leader opens HK concept store

The Italian comfort footwear maker, GEOX, in conjunction with Mirabell International Holdings Limited, today (April 7) opened the first GEOX concept shop in Hong Kong.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the President of the GEOX Group, Mr Mario Moretti Polegato, said Hong Kong was a market of strategic importance for his business.

"GEOX is a revolutionary technological project applied to shoes and fashion," he said.

GEOX products are distributed by Senses Marketing International Limited, a subsidiary of Mirabell International Holdings, in Hong Kong and Macau. Mirabell is the franchisee of the Hong Kong GEOX Concept Shop.

Founded in the mid 1990s by Mr Moretti Polegato, the GEOX Group operates in 68 countries and ranks eighth globally in the comfort footwear sector.

The group has recorded strong growth since its establishment. Turnover last year reached 254 million euros with production of over 6.6 million pairs of shoes and a workforce of more than 5,000.

The Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong, Mr Simon Galpin, said the increasing number of concept stores opened by international brands clearly showed that Hong Kong was the leading retail capital of Asia.

Ends/Wednesday, April 7, 2004