Lupo launches lingerie chain in São Paulo
O Estado de S. Paulo
Next Saturday, December 4, Lupo, national leader in the market of socks, intends to inaugurate its first lingerie store in great style with a fashion model parade out in the open: the address is rua Oscar Freire, the chicest of the country, and one of the most expensive commercial points of São Paulo. With the star of a brand new, Lupo Lingerie, the company starts its plan of segmentation of points of sales of its products, made in Araraquara factory, in the interior of São Paulo, where its headquarters is located.
Two months ago, Lupo had already diversified the product mix, releasing a sports line, which should also gain its own chain, Lupo Sport, with the opening of its first store in March next year, in Araraquara. "Our traditional stores became too small to accommodate the variety of products", says Valquírio Cabral Junior, Commercial Officer of Lupo. "We had to innovate in the sales formats". The creation of new brands has received investment of R$ 1 million (US$ 588 thousand).
The company currently has 192 franchised Lupo stores, eight of them abroad (Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Venezuela and Portugal), selling from socks, lingerie, pajamas and blouses to men's underwear. The plan is to reach 50 addresses of Lupo Lingerie and 10 of Lupo Sport until the end of next year. The two brands are the bet of Lupo to double its earnings in the next three years to R$ 1 billion (US$ 588 million) - the company foresees closing the year with earnings at nearly R$ 550 million (US$ 323.5 million), an increase of 25% compared to 2009. "Lupo has been growing 20% a year since 2002", says Cabral Junior.
To meet the growing demand, Lupo plans to increase in 40% the built-up area of the plant to 70 thousand square meters. With that, the company should increase in 20% its productive capacity that is currently at 100 million units a year. According to Cabral Júnior, one of the main challenges of the expansion of Lupo is the selection of franchisees. "There is a queue of nearly 600 persons interested", he says. It's not exactly a small investment: to open a store, already with the inventory, but not counting the point of sale, the franchisee applicant needs to have nearly R$ 300 thousand (US$ 176.5 thousand). "We don't even take part in tradeshows of the sector of franchises because we are not able to meet the demand," says Cabral Junior.