LEADING Taiwanese handmade gentlemen shoes brand O’Ringo is looking at further expanding its presence in Asia.
Participating in the ongoing Wow! Taiwan Selects Pop-up Store in Makati City, O’Ringo Founder Hsinju Tseng said they are closely looking at the possibility of opening a store in the country.
“We will negotiate. There is no limit in what we can do. We want to be in high-end malls in the Philippines. Then we want to have our own stores,” Tseng said.
Currently, O’Ringo has three stores in Taiwan and opened its first physical store in Hong Kong last year. It currently has three outlet stores and a factory in Taiwan.
Tseng said they are looking to have their own store in the country in the short term and it will be just a matter of finding the right partner.
However, Tseng said they want to start first by finding distributors in the Philippines who could make their brand readily available in key cities.
“Metro Manila is a modern city. We believe that people here would like to try new products. We have good-quality shoes,” Tseng said, while describing the Philippine market as young and having an increasing purchasing capacity.
O’Ringo have their long line of hand-crafted dress shoes, boots and casual shoes, which are priced between P6,000 to P14,000. Their most expensive shoes are made from 100-percent leather. They also sell accessories, including socks, ties, belts, bags and briefcases.
“Our target is the middle class,” Tseng said.
O’Ringo was first established as an online shop in 2006. The shoe company aims to bring back customers to a time of traditional shoemaking craftsmanship. The company sources all of its raw materials, shoemakers and suppliers from Taiwan.
Image credits: Rodel Alzona