BALANGA City – Stella International, a leading developer and manufacturer of quality footwear products and publicly-
listed in Hong Kong, will soon locate at the Freeport Area of Bataan and agreed to have footwear parts prepared in this city, Mayor Jose Enrique Garcia III announced Friday.
The city mayor said he met with Jack Chang, a top executive of one of the biggest footwear makers in the world and Asian shoemaker for luxury brands. Stella International will build its own building at the FAB in Mariveles that will initially produce four million shoes and hire 5,000 workers.
Under its expansion program, the multi-million- peso shoe-making investment will up its work force to 10,000, the mayor said. Garcia said the parts of the shoes will be prepared in houses of interested residents in 25 barangays of the city and assembled at the FAB.
“Malaking biyaya ito sa ating mga komunidad na kahit nasa bahay ay may hanapbuhay sila,” the city chief executive said. Stella International was founded in Taiwan in 1982 and was listed on Stock Exchange of Hongkong Limited on July 6, 2007.
It produces six of the world’s top ten casual footwear companies, namely, Clarks, Deckers, ECCO, Rockport, Timberland and Wolverine. As well as the revered high-fashion brands Alejandro, Ingelmo, Alexander Wang, Bally, Burberry, Ivanka, Trump, Marc by Marc, Jacobs, Miu Miu, Prada, Sigerson Morrison, Vera Wang, Via Spiga and Y3.
In 2006, it began retail operations in China for its own brands Stella Luna and What For. “We have to be prepared for this big and rare opportunity for our villagers,” Mayor Garcia told officials in 25 barangays. Gov. Albert Garcia and his father, 2nd District Rep. Enrique Garcia, said they were happy for their constituents in this new development.
