Brantano Footwear

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Brantano N.V.
Type Public
Founded 1962
Headquarters Flag of Belgium Lede, Belgium
No. of locations 286 stores
Area served Europe, Middle East
Key people André Brantegem, Founder
Products Footwear
Revenue 295.2 million (FY 2006)
Operating income 35.9 million (FY 2006)
Net income 29.5 million (FY 2006)
Employees 2,945
Website www.brantano.com

Brantano Footwear is a multinational footwear company, which sells a wide range of footwear in its 286 stores across Europe and the Middle East. In 2005, Brantano had a revenue of €304.1 million.

Contents

[edit] Origin

The company originated from a small factory run by André Brantegem and his brother in Lede, East Flanders. The Brantagem brothers were sons of a cobbler. They specialised in ladies' shoes which they sold to wholesalers and retailers in Belgium. Eventually the brothers separated and in 1962 André intitiated a retail outlet at the factory. This evolved into the Brantano chain of shoe shops.

[edit] Business

Brantano NV is the parent company that is in control of the rest of the Brantano group.
The group is divided into different parts, including:

- Brantano (UK) Ltd, its British subsidiary, which operates 146 stores in the United Kingdom and also 11 stores in the Middle East;
- Brantano Luxembourg SA, which controls 4 stores in Luxembourg;
- Brimmo NV, which controls 20 stores in Belgium (in addition to these, 101 Belgian stores are controlled directly by Brantano nv);
- Muys NV (taken over by Brantano in 1996), which has 4 stores in Flanders.

Brantano got rid of its Dutch and Danish stores in 2005, and is in the process of liquidating its French stores (which are controlled by its French subsidiary, Brantano SA).

[edit] Brantano (UK) Ltd

Brantano (UK) Ltd have recently launched a nationwide advertising campaign in a bid to change the public's perception of Brantano from a discount warehouse, to a high fashion, affordable shoe megastore.

[edit] Television advertisement

This campaign includes the introduction of a television advert which features a fictional psychologist called Anne-Marie Brantano, portrayed as one of the giants of twentieth century psychology along with Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. She is supposed to have discovered the "sling-back synapse", an imaginary part of the female brain which reveals what women want from their shoe shopping experience. It also describes the condition "shoe rage".

[edit] Redevelopment

As well as an advertising campaign, Brantano has now completed re-fitting many of its stores to make them look fresh and up-to-date.

Changes include:

  • New carpets
  • Fewer shelves on display units
  • Less old stock on display
  • New posters on display around the shop detailing new lines or shoes on special offer.

[edit] External links