Kumfs rebrands to become Ziera for more fashion appeal

Kumfs managing director Andrew Robertson. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Women's shoe retailer Kumfs is rebranding this month to engage a younger audience and increase overseas sales, its managing director says.

By the end of the month all the company's New Zealand and Australian stores will have been renamed and branded Ziera.

Kumfs managing director Andrew Robertson said the company wanted a name that could be understood in multiple markets from Asia to Europe and North America.

He said the structure of Kumfs and the quality it represented would be "alive and well" in Ziera but that it was time for a look that better represented where the company was headed.

"We have been going through a progressive change of our brand, and we understand to be more successful internationally we do need to appeal to a broader set of women. It's about us paving the way for the future. Every company wants to grow and in order for us to grow we need to make changes to help that growth.

"We've toyed with the name over many years and as our range has got younger it's become more of a disconnection between the footwear we produce and the Kumfs name. Over the last five to six years our range and the fashion quantity of the brand has risen and it started to become more and more difficult to see Kumfs [brand] long term."

Robertson said the company's target audience was women aged 35 and over, and although traditionally older women bought Kumfs, recently the lower end of that spectrum were purchasing the shoes.

"We're also developing our footwear range to appeal to a broader group of women. Our design team has received international design input and is working to enhance and develop our current range to include new and more innovative designs that further meet customer expectations. We're confident the Ziera brand will have a positive effect," Robertson said.

Robertson said the company aimed to triple its global sales to over $200 million over the next five years by expanding into the US and China. The company plans to expand its Kumfs owned and franchised stores from 43 to 125 over the next five years, as well as produce 1.5 million shoes by 2015.

Kumfs recently opened new stores in Sydney and Brisbane, and one is planned to open at Hamilton retail outlet The Base soon.

"Pretty massive change for the company. We are re-emerging as Ziera. In the eyes of customers, it will be happening as of next week when we start to market it, to get the name out there. We understand we need to bring along all the positives of Kumfs with the brand transition.

"Our constant challenge is blending fashion with comfort. Always a real challenge for us and it's one thing I think we do well at," Robertson said.

The company has stores in Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Norfolk Islands and Singapore.