Alpargatas Argentina to invest ARS100 million (€4.8 million) in Havaianas relaunch

By

Alicia Mares

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Oct 13, 2017

Alpargatas Argentina, the local subsidiary of Brazilian group Alpargatas, and the South American country's leading manufacturer, distributor and exporter of apparel and textiles, has announced it will invest ARS100 million (€4.8 million) over a period of 3 years for the relaunch of its flip flop brand Havaianas in Argentina. According to the Cronista daily paper, the group intends to introduce the brand in several different retail chains, before going on to open its own monobrand stores.

Currently, Havaianas flip flops are practically non-existent in Argentina. At the end of 2009, the brand’s imports were hampered by the measures implemented by the government. The first obstacle to the entry of Havaianas in Argentina emerged in August of that year, when an application by the Alpargatas group to import 7 million pairs of flip flops from Brazil was turned down.

The group has now indicated that, with a new government in place in Argentina, the import policy changes that have been implemented and the slow but sustained recovery of local consumption, have been crucial in encouraging Alpargatas to relaunch the flip flop brand in the country.

Alpargatas's Argentinian subsidiary is based in Buenos Aires and operates 7 manufacturing plants, while the international business of Alpargatas S.A., as well as from São Paulo and Buenos Aires, is also run from offices in New York, Madrid, Paris, London and Bologna, Italy. 

Globally, the São Paulo-based Alpargatas group has sold in excess of 252 million Havaianas in 2016, in the 116 countries where the brand is marketed. In the last fiscal year, Havaianas generated a total revenue of €1.2 billion.