US footwear brand boosts market presence in Cebu

Sanuk, a California-based footwear company is eyeing strong market presence in the area due to the positive reception of the Cebuano market of their unique product lines.

Displayed in concept stores owned and managed by its exclusive Philippine distributor the Primer Group, Sanuk has been making waves in the Philippine market starting March of last year with its unique footwear designs.

Here in Cebu, although considerably a new brand that was introduced just last year, it has already become one of the fast-selling anchor products in Res-Toe-Run (RTR) and Bratpack concept shops in the Ayala Center Cebu.

In an interview with its brand manager Ruby Palma, she said that due to the incredible performance of the footwear brand in terms of sales here in Cebu, they are now pitching for a possible location of a stand alone boutique that they will open around next year.

Palma said that “Sanuk” is a Thai word that means “pursuit for happiness” which greatly embodies the entire concept of their product line.

Sanuk is a young brand that was started in 1999 which has gained sought after market positions in the specialty surf business for its authenticity and originality that is designed for the global surfing and water community.

It is also credited with creating an entirely new category in casual footwear called Sidewalk Surfers which recently been awarded with one of the footwear industry’s most prestigious awards, the “Footwear Item of The Year 2007” cited by the trade publication Footwear Plus in the US. 

Palma explained that Sidewalk Surfers’ design is very original because it is actually sandals with a shoe attached to it which results to an “addictively comfortable” footwear that has grown beyond the company's surf roots and has become a celebrity fashion item these days.

Since the company introduced its Sidewalk Surfers line, it has had achieved triple digit growth internationally, which made Sanuk the number one selling brand within its classification.

The Sidewalk Surfers is priced at P2, 200 to P3, 500 while Sanuk flipflops is priced from P690 to P1, 500.

But despite its being new in Cebu, Palma said that Sanuk has already been able to establish strong brand presence in the market.

“Outside Manila, our Cebu sales is performing really good and we have received very overwhelming response to our products as a big segment of the market already know the brand,” said Palma.

Palma said their metrics in determining the strong brand presence of Sanuk in Cebu is the double digit growth of their sales month after month. – Rhia de Pablo