Georgian sports shoe brand Crosty invested 70,000 EUR in the opening of its first concept store in Tbilisi. The company created an additional nine jobs.

As Giorgi Mikaia, the founder and creative director of Crosty, says during his visit to Business Morning, the opening of the first store is due to a change in the company's strategy.

"Amid the pandemic, there were big problems especially in our field. Before that we did not think about opening a physical store, as we sold our products in various multi-brand stores, both in Tbilisi and abroad, we had showrooms in Milan and New York, and we developed the company in this direction. Due to the difficulties created by the pandemic in retail, we switched to a customer-oriented strategy and started opening stores. We opened the first store in Tbilisi, because Crosty is a Georgian brand,” said Giorgi Mikaia.

The creative director of Crosty notes that the employees in the store have undergone training and the plan developed by the company will be extended to the opening of stores in other countries.

"Opening the first store was a challenge for us. It took us a long time to develop a staff training plan. Today, the program is developed and with this program we will train staff in other countries as well," he said.

The co-founder of Georgian brand notes that Crosty store will have a different concept. "Our strategy is to create a global Georgian brand, therefore we have started with external marketing. According to the changed strategy, we open stores that will not have a typical load. It's a concept store where our shopping and art experiences come together. It will be a place to share the brand experience and we will strengthen digital marketing compared to physical sales,” said the founder of Crosty.
According to him, 28% of sales come from physical sales, although the pandemic has made it clear that strengthening the digital direction is a priority today. Giorgi Mikaia says that the company is not going to open a second store yet.

Giorgi Mikaia notes that Crosty is focusing on the region with the updated strategy today.

"We think to strengthen the company first in the region and then enter other markets, which is scheduled for 2-3 years”, Mikaia noted.