Dr Martens plan to open 100 new stores

It has been announced that Dr Martens footwear retailer are planning on opening 100 new stores and instore shops during the next five years.

The iconic footwear retailer, despite sales decreasing 4% to £232.4 million, opened 11 new stores and nine instore shops in the year to 31^st March.

Other figures show that Dr Martens closed 250 non-strategic wholesale accounts, whilst wholesale revenue fell 14% over the same period, however the retailer is looking to restructure its wholesale and export channels.

Steve Murray, chief executive, said:  “As part of our strategy we identified the need to expand and upgrade our direct relationship with consumers at point of purchase, be it through our own stores, our partner stores or a much better web experience.”

“This is working and it’s been particularly satisfying to see double-digit sales increases in our owned retail and ecommerce channels.

“Since the year-end, we’ve been pleased with how our new product continues to be received, especially our new DM’s Lite range, which was successfully launched in September and is a strong complement to our Originals line.”

A large slice of the retailers sales come from overseas, with 79% coming from outside the UK and 19% coming from Asia.