Yes – Mochi is an Indian footwear brand, owned entirely by Metro Brands Limited, a homegrown Indian retail company with no foreign ownership.
Overview
Mochi is a footwear and accessories brand — shoes, sandals, heels, boots, loafers, sneakers, bags, belts, and related accessories — for men, women, and kids. It sits within the portfolio of Metro Brands Limited, one of India’s largest listed footwear retailers, alongside sister brands like Metro, Walkway, and MetroActiv, plus partner brands such as Crocs, FitFlop, and Foot Locker that Metro Brands retails in India.
The name itself is meaningful: “Mochi” is the Hindi/Urdu word for cobbler or shoemaker.
Origin
Metro Brands traces back to 1955, when Malik Tejani opened a standalone shoe store in Colaba, Mumbai. The company was formally incorporated as Metro Shoes in 1977 — the same year products started being sold under the “Mochi” name. However, Mochi as a dedicated, standalone retail format only came into its own in 2000, when the first exclusive Mochi store — “Mochi: The Shoe Shoppe” — opened on Commercial Street, Bengaluru, positioned as a younger, more fashion-forward, premium sibling to the classic Metro Shoes format.
Growth
Mochi’s expansion has tracked the broader rise of Metro Brands as a company:
- From roughly 70 stores across 35 cities in its earlier years, Mochi grew to 162 stores by FY22.
- By June 2026, Mochi had reached 289 stores, part of Metro Brands’ overall footprint of 1,041 stores that quarter.
- As of December 2025, Mochi specifically had 279 MBO-format stores.
- Metro Brands as a whole crossed the 1,000-store milestone by March 2026, spanning over 200 cities and about 1.4 million sq. ft. of retail space.
- Metro Brands completed its IPO in 2021 and is listed on both the NSE and BSE, still led by the founding Malik family (Rafique Malik as Chairman, Farah Malik Bhanji as MD, Nissan Joseph as CEO).Mochi’s store count grew roughly 78% over about four years, one of Metro Brands’ fastest-scaling formats.
Future Plans
Metro Brands management has laid out a few clear directions for Mochi and the broader portfolio going forward:
- Continued store expansion, targeting sustained sales growth of around 15% year-on-year over the medium term, with growth “opportunistic” — focused on quality locations rather than rapid, indiscriminate rollout.
- Push into Tier-2 to Tier-4 towns, mainly via the value-focused Walkway format, to capture the shift from unbranded to branded footwear in smaller cities — Mochi itself continues to anchor the premium/fashion segment in larger metros.
- New brand integrations: Clarks (acquired by Metro Brands in June 2025) merchandise has already been introduced within Metro and Mochi stores, with a standalone Clarks exclusive outlet planned for H1 FY27.
- Growing e-commerce, expected to make up 12–15% of overall business in the near term.
- Infrastructure investment, including a new 200,000 sq. ft. distribution center and a company-wide POS system upgrade rolling out through 2026, to support continued scale.
FAQ
Is Mochi 100% Indian-owned?
Yes. It’s wholly owned by Metro Brands Limited, an Indian public company headquartered in Mumbai, promoted by the Malik family since 1955 — no foreign parent is involved.
Who owns Mochi?
Metro Brands Limited, listed on the NSE and BSE.
What’s the difference between Metro and Mochi?
Both are Metro Brands’ in-house formats. Metro (the original, since 1955) is the broader, family-oriented footwear brand, while Mochi is the younger, more premium, fashion-forward sibling launched as a standalone format in 2000.
When and where did Mochi start as a dedicated store?
2000, on Commercial Street in Bengaluru.
Is Mochi only a footwear brand?
No — while footwear is its core, Mochi also sells handbags, belts, mobile cases, socks, and shoe/foot-care products.
