WHOLESALER PROFILE Editor, Cheryl Taylor, talks to Ashwin Shah director, of Wembley Footwear Ltd


Tell us about your background and company history? We have been in the footwear business for nearly


twenty years having started trading from a warehouse near the Wembley Stadium. Hence, the name Wembley Footwear Limited. Prior to this I was in the Import and Export business dealing in a wide variety of goods. I used to travel extensively to the Far East where I built up good relationships with a number of manufacturers, including some who were making good quality footwear and spotting a good opportunity. I decided to focus all my energies and attention to the footwear business. In order to meet the growing needs of our ever


increasing customer base the business was relocated, in 1993, from Wembley to Aldgate, in the City of London, where it operated very successfully for several years. In 2002 we moved to Tottenham Hale, in North London, to a 12,000sq.ft, modern, fully equipped warehouse to service our esteemed customers. When we first started there was no internet and the only lines of communications were telephone, telex and telegrams. Today the world has become much smaller with the Internet and all other forms of communications. One does not need to travel on a regular basis, to see the factories, or to look at the products. Through the medium of the Internet it has become easy to see the items very clearly using a good web-cam. With an almost one to two day delivery time using internationally reputed air- courier companies, it has also become very easy to get samples from the manufacturers. This way, coupled with the trust and relationships built up over the years with our suppliers/ manufacturers, we are able to considerably cut down on the time taken to process important buying decisions - and also keep up with the latest trends, without having to physically travel all the time to the factories in the Far East.


Where are you based? We have over 12,000 sq ft of warehouse facility


at Tottenham Hale, in North London, from where we provide a Cash and Carry service to our customers. For those who are not able to visit us at our cash


& carry warehouse, we have a fully operational dynamic website where our esteemed customers can view our products on-line and place orders by following simple steps as set out in the web-site which is updated on a daily basis.


Tell us about your brands? Which are your best selling brands/ranges/lines and why? Our Main Brand is King. The Safety Boot range


we stock and supply is sold under this brand. It is one of our best selling lines since it meets our customers’ needs for a reliable, industry standard quality product, which also measures up to the health and safety requirements of the construction and other industries where it is used. We also do a range of Men’s Classic Brand of


Leather Shoes. The men’s shoes that we carry are Goodyear welted hand-made leather shoes, Party shoes, Casual shoes and Deck shoes. Our Best selling items are Men’s shoes in leather.


18 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011


Name: Ashwin Shah Position: Director Company: Wembley Footwear Ltd Brands: King, Pierre Leon, Classic, Best Direction, Luigi Rossi Age: 59 Contact details: Tel: 0208 808 0550 - wembleyfootwear@hotmail.com


For the Ladies we have a very substantial


selection of boots, shoes and sandals to choose from and all are in keeping with the latest market trends.


And, your customers? Which retailers do you supply? Our customer base is made up largely of


traditional independent retailers; retail groups owning four/five shops or more and also market traders. Our customers are able to place our products very comfortably and successfully alongside other well-known and exclusive brands on their shelves. Over the years we have also built up a good base


of customers overseas to whom we make regular exports.


How are you finding the footwear market currently? In the present economic climate we admit that the market can be testing and difficult at times. However, we remain positive and optimistic as we have a loyal core customer base that we have built up over the past twenty years. We constantly monitor market trends and believe that with the right lines we are able to continue capitalizing on the business opportunities out there and in particular those that arise from the independent customers.


What’s selling well? We are selling a lot of Ladies and Men’s’ Fashion


items. Our product range is not only competitively priced, but is also in line with the current market trends. This ensures that our customers have access to quality merchandise that meets their aspirations at affordable prices even in the face of a difficult economic climate.


Any difficulties, problems? Fashion changes fast, so it presents us with phenomenal challenges to be constantly vigilant to ensure that we are on top of things, and are able to satisfy the evolving needs of our loyal customers, by keeping in line with the market trends. Such challenges always come with their own difficulties, but we believe that, by and large, our twenty plus years of experience provides us with the ability to ensure that we are suitably geared up to cope with any such problem or difficulty that may arise.


How many people do you have working for you? Do you have a high turnover of staff? We have a staff of FOUR people working for us


and we are pleased to say that they have all been with us for a long time. We have had a very low turnover of staff. We have a company policy of employing casual staff from time to time and this has been favourably acceptable to our regular employees.


How do you market your products? We advertise very regularly in Footwear Today


and other Trade magazines. We also exhibit our wares regularly at all the major trade and industry Exhibitions all over the U.K.


Any famous customers? To us all our loyal customers - whether they are independent retailers, group owners, market traders and our esteemed overseas clients – are all “famous customers”. The market segment that we deal in does not really attract what may be termed as “traditional famous customer” especially as most such customers will probably only deal in high end, expensive lines. However, we are open to serve anyone and may be one of these days we will have on our books one or more of such “traditional famous customers”, especially if they read Footwear Today and come to know about our position in the market!!


And, the next step? Any plans for the future, new lines, etc. We will continue to build on the popularity of the


fashion lines and introduce new lines / products in accordance with the demands/requirements of our customers and the feedback we accumulate from our participation / presence at the various trade and industry exhibitions.


How does the trade contact you? We can be contacted by phone on +44 (0)20 8808 0550 or by email at wembleyfootwear@hotmail.com. We also invite everyone to visit our web-site www.wembleyfashions.co.uk


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