India's largest Skechers store is now at Thane
Reviewing a footwear brand that also into lifestyle products
Six years ago, I wanted to start running marathons, not the full ones, but the quarter and the half marathons, which are just 10.5 and 21 km. respectively. To prepare for running, I went to the Skechers store at Ghatkopar's R-City Mall and purchased a pair of Go Run shoes.
My first marathon experience was taking part in the fourth Running and Living Mumbai Half Marathon at the Aarey Milk Colony soon after Diwali in 2015. I had been taking advice on running from a friend Niranjan who is a marathoner and, based on it, invested sweat-wicking shorts and a T-shirt in using while running.
I also attempted to follow my friend's worksheet to practice for about six weeks for the quarter marathon of 10.55 kilometers I was running.
Closer to the marathon day, I collected my bib for the race from the organizers at Aarey Milk Colony.
I had perfunctorily practiced for the quarter marathon. Still, I decided to run at the event, even without adequate preparation, out of bravado.
On the day of the marathon, I woke up early and landed at the marathon's starting point in the darkness. The organizers flagged off the half marathon first and followed it by letting quarter marathon runners start running. After starting to run, I soon realized that for a first-time runner, I had chosen the wrong course consisting of roads with potholes and numerous undulations!
I interspersed my running with walking, slowing down frequently to navigate the steep slopes. We had the organizers egg us on with their encouragement and supporting us through refreshments throughout the course. I managed to complete the distance in 1 hour 47 minutes, mostly having walked through and not run through the race.
Looking back at my experience, I realized that my choice of Skechers shoes had helped me. They are lighter than those of other brands and assist in running, as heavier shoes can tire a runner more quickly.
I used my Skechers Go Run for many years and later bought a pair of Go Walk shoes that I used for walking for some years.
Skechers shoes have no midsole, which makes them light, and my first pair of that brand weighed just about 200 gm. Unlike other shoe brands with an upper and lower and a midsole, Skechers just has one layer of foam in the lower that cushions the wearers' feet and makes the footwear lighter. Being light, cheaper than other popular shoe brands, and celebrities advertising for the brand have made Skechers popular globally.
Skechers is a twenty-year American brand with its headquarters in California and the third-largest athletic brand in the USA. Like with most other foreign brands, Skechers imports its products into India from China and Vietnam. The sales volume of Skechers products is still low in the country for the brand to manufacture them here.
In December 2020, Skechers opened its largest store in India at Thane's Big Centre Mall. This store has no closed spaces and entices customers with rows upon rows of footwear and garments. The store is the size of a large warehouse and has no false roof and thus gives the illusion of being a large space. Like is common at athletic brand stores, you will find Skechers employees wearing the brand's footwear, and garments approach you to help you do your shopping.
During our visit earlier this year, we bought a pair of shoes and socks with their employee staying with us throughout our visit to the store. They have good customer service with their employees guiding customers and helping the latter choose products most fit for their requirements.
The Big Centre Skechers store has apparel such as T-shirts, jackets and pants, sunglasses, watches, bags, innerwear, face masks, caps, hats for men, women, and children. The footwear range is for athletic, casual use, formal wear, and safety.
At Big Centre, shoppers now go to Decathlon for shopping garments, and you will see that happen with Skechers. A worldwide trend of 2020 has been athletic and leisure ware was becoming the choice of people at home, leading to the term' athleisure.'
You will find Skechers and other similar brands gain traction during 2021 as people are working and studying from home. While at home, people prefer light and comfortable clothing, which such sporty brands as Skechers offer in a wide variety of choices.
The largest Skechers shoe store compliments the largest Bata store that Thane has at the Viviana Mall. With retail space at a premium and short at Mumbai, you can expect more brands to open their larger outlets at Thane and Navi Mumbai.
Thane's Big Centre Mall is a good place for shopping with open-air vehicle parking and accommodating thousands of cars.
I have never seen vehicles not having parking space there. An amusing practice I noticed at their parking lot is the mall management blocking parking lots to allow for the physical distancing of cars next to each other.
Sometimes, the mall also organizes flea market-style kiosks in the parking lot. We found one such during our visit in early 2021.
Big Centre is a small mall with the Skechers Store, a Big Bazaar Hypermart, and the very popular Decathlon store on the first floor. They also have a Shopper Stop on the ground floor.
Big Centre also has a Croma Store and McDonald's. Some shoe brands like have factory outlets at Big Centre to sell clearance stock at discounts and offer regular products at full price. Big Centre also has a small food court on the first floor.
Big Centre is a smaller mall if you compare it to the larger ones with more than a million square feet of retailing space.
With India's largest Skechers store as one tenant, Big Centre will also draw shoppers from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.
Thane now has the distinction of hosting two of India's largest footwear stores, one of Bata and another of Skechers.
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