Bisonte goes hell for leather
MELBOURNE: Leather specialist Bisonte has revealed an ambitious local and overseas expansion strategy.
According to Bisonte managing director Eric Wolfe, the Melbourne-founded company was set to open a new Sydney CBD store by Christmas, adding to existing stores in Oxford Street Sydney and Melbourne's Chapel Street and Howey Place precincts.
Wolfe confirmed four more stores would open over the next two years, in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley, Perth, Canberra and Surfers Paradise. Meanwhile the brand, which already had a presence in Germany, Italy and the US, was also test marketing across nine boutiques in New York, with a view to opening several branded stores there.
The planned retail expansion was part of Bisonte's evolution away from its origins as a manufacturer of leather garments, evidenced by the introduction of accessories three years ago to enhance its brand offer and weather transeasonal selling cycles.
"Having established its own factory in China in 2000, Bisonte has spent recent years training craftsmen and women whose legendary skills are now the envy of the world's most ambitious fashion houses," he said.
Bisonte now offered more than 20 bag styles and 60 to 100 jacket styles at any one time, with prices ranging from $25 for key cases to $1200 for premium quality jackets.
The company's retail expansion had been supported by an unbranded product business - worth around $3 million in annual turnover - supplying to high recall labels including Country Road, Satch, Anthea Crawford and Calibre.
"The wholesale side of our accessories business has been growing steadily, with the strongest growth this year showing overall sales up 50 per cent. We believe we will continue this kind of growth for the next three to five years." The last 12 months had also seen a significant profit increase in the retail side of the business, he said.
Bisonte did not advertise and its retail profile would be supported by publicity, in store experience, word of mouth and the quality of its product, he added. "The typical Bisonte customer is pretty discerning, confident, style conscious and intelligent. We don't heavily brand our product; it's really more about people making it their own brand."
By Belinda Smart