malvernmugadzikwa
Malvern Nkomo
Business Reporter
BATA Zimbabwe Shoe Company opened its 67th retail store in Chitungwiza last Thursday as part of the firm’s five-year growth strategy.
This becomes the company’s second outlet in the dormitory town.
The shoe manufacturer’s expansion roadmap focuses on widening customer reach across the country for convenience while driving up production volumes.
The newly opened outlet at the Makoni Shopping Complex is expected to significantly decongest the firm’s shops in Harare’s Central Business District, including its old branch at Town Centre in Chitungwiza.
Bata has been in operation since 1939, being the country’s largest manufacturer and leading footwear retailer in Zimbabwe.
An official from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Mr Thulani Chitopo, who represented Minister Sekai Nzenza, urged the company to take advantage of export opportunities created by the Government through various initiatives such as the refurbishment of the Beitbridge Border Post.
“The Government recently modernised and upgraded the Beitbridge Border Post in order to promote seamless movement of both goods and people, and, as a result, commercial entities such as Bata, among others operating countrywide, stand to benefit immensely from the anticipated increase in intra-Africa trade through less turnover time for cargo.
“We hope that Bata Shoe Company will take advantage of this opportunity and export its products to the region as we promote the culture of manufacturing goods locally.
He added that the initiatives by the shoe manufacturing company would bear fruit for the Chitungwiza community and improve the standards of living, while promoting local production.
“Launching a second store will significantly create substantial value, convenience and value-added services closer to the Chitungwiza community and this is, no doubt, a key initiative by the private sector, which complements Government efforts of uplifting the standards of living in the country.
“The development thrust under the Second Republic is driven by the need to continuously modernise our infrastructure, promote new investment and new enterprise development, simultaneously creating employment and decent jobs for our people.
“Since 2017, capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector has increased to over 60 percent and in addition, 80 percent of the products on retail shelves are now locally produced and we are glad that 97 percent of the products in our Bata stores are locally produced in the Midlands province in the city of Gweru.
“Government has made and will continue to make strides in improving the business environment by implementing the ease of doing business reforms and various policy interventions, “ said Mr Chitopo.
Bata country manager Simon Mutisya said: “We decided to open a second branch in Chitungwiza as part of our five-year plan to get closer to our customers after close monitoring of the trends in the town and found out that, with a population of close to 500 000, there is need for another store to cater for the growing population.
“The main objective in the five-year plan is to move closer to our consumers and improve our volumes. It means we can increase our capacity utilisation at our plant in Gweru and result in costs reduction such that we would be in a better position to pass fair and affordable prices of our products to the population”.
He revealed that the Zimbabwean market presents a huge opportunity for Bata as there is high demand for footwear across the country.
“The demand for shoes currently stands at 14,3 million pairs and Bata is producing around 1,3 million shoes, which means that there is a huge opportunity for us to get these customers who are currently not buying from us.
“We want to capitalise on that and our duty is to find out where the excess demand is and figure out a way to attract more customers to Bata and expand our retail stores.”
Mr Mutisya said expanding retail outlets would boost production volumes at the Gweru plant, thus creating more employment opportunities and supporting local suppliers for raw hides.
“For the past three years, Bata has invested close to US$5 million in acquiring new machinery, renovations and acquiring key staff and IT services, which clearly shows that we are on a growth
path.
“This further demonstrates the confidence Bata has in the country and also the confidence the consumers have in our brands, “ said Mr Mutisya.
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