Rich sport celebrates with limited-edition shoe launch

Marketing manager Peepit Bejruenthong said yesterday that Rich Sport had invited 24 Thai artists to design the limited edition. Each pattern will be produced in 120 to 400 pairs.

Invited artists include Sangkom Thaongmee, Niwat Kongpien, Dome Sukwong, Nonzee Nimibutr, Prabda Yoon and Pattreeda Prasarnthong.

The launch will be held on May 29 at Siam Paragon.

"The company's growth rate has been 5 to 6 per cent on average over the past few years due to the economic slowdown. For this year, we will introduce limited-edition shoes to increase sales revenue by 6.67 per cent," he said.

Rich Sport also plans to extend the Pro Star brand by creating more variations such as leather and denim after the introduction of the Converse shoe series last year, Peepit said.

He added that Converse had a production capacity of 800,000 pairs per year. The company plans to increase capacity by 15 per cent this year to meet local demand.

Marketing director Chertchai Prasongphonchai said Converse was ranked No 3 in the sports-shoe segment, whose market value last year was Bt4.5 billion. Nike was the market leader with sales of Bt1.4 billion, followed by Adidas with Bt1.2 billion.

The company will allocate a marketing budget of Bt40 million this year.

"The competition in the sports-shoe market nowadays will not focus on price but on design. Some brands will concentrate on sport shoes to link with the Olympic Games this year, while Converse will focus on casual and fashion shoes," Chertchai said.