From leading an IPO to finding the right blend of offline and online retail, and a professional CEO, the third generation entrepreneurs are helping pivot and grow Metro Brands
It has been a year of big changes for Metro Brands as a family business. Not only did the company bring in an external CEO in July 2021, but in December, it also went public. Though both moves had been in the works for a while, the two are not interlinked—it all simply happened to come together around the same time even as the company was recovering from the havoc wreaked by Covid-19 on retail businesses.
The process of going for an IPO actually started three to four years ago and the company had even put the bankers and legal team in place, but then Covid struck and they decided to wait a while. On the other hand, professionalising the business and succession planning have been an ongoing process at the specialty retail footwear brand, and it had always been part of the plan to eventually get in a CEO. When they found the right person in Nissan Joseph, who has about 20 years of experience in the retail industry that includes stints at Payless Shoes, Hickory Brands and Crocs, they decided they did not want to wait.
(This story appears in the 08 April, 2022 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)