‘Worn-out’ shoemakers in the US still have a chance to heal
Annual sales at shoe stores declined 1.5 per cent in the United States in 2017 despite a 1.3 per cent increase in consumer spending on footwear last year
More than half a dozen U.S. footwear retailers and manufacturers filed for bankruptcy in the past 14 months as they struggled to attract traffic to their physical stores, but brick-and-mortar shoe sellers still have a chance to turn around their business, according to retail experts.
Rockport Group LLC is the latest shoe-related company to enter bankruptcy court, filing on May 14. It follows other shoemakers and specialty retailers Nine West Holdings Inc., Walking Co., Pinktoe Tarantula Ltd, Shiekh Shoes LLC, Aerosoles Inc. and Payless ShoeSource Inc., which filed in April 2017.
“The footwear retailers’ bankruptcy filings reflect a general trend in the retail industry where many retailers have had tremendous challenges and some have been forced out of businesses,” said Jie Zhang, professor of retail management at Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.
Annual sales at shoe stores declined 1.5 per cent in the United States in 2017 despite a 1.3 per cent increase in consumer spending on footwear last year, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis.
“Store-based footwear retailers are having a particularly difficult time, as more consumers are switching their purchases from online stores and discount retailers,” Zhang said. She explained that online platforms, such as Amazon, and big-box stores, like TJ Maxx, are able to offer a broad assortment at lower prices than traditional shoe sellers.
