Brown Shoe Co. Sees Move To Fashion-Based Purchases

 

On the athletics side, she said that coming on top of last year’s “superb performance” in toning, “you can clearly see running and lightweight running gaining momentum. Anybody that follows the industry certainly sees that, and we are getting more our fair share of that in our Famous Footwear business.”

She asserts that Famous has become “an athletic destination for the family” and sees running as a major opportunity for the family footwear chain.

“While we wouldnt necessarily be the first for that real performance-oriented runner or consumer to go to, the vast majority of consumers really do think of Famous as an option as a casual alternative,” said Sullivan. “So we really see that as being a terrific opportunity for us in this next cycle.”

Overall, however, she said footwear is undergoing an “incredible fashion cycle” that’s driving numerous categories, including athletics. “Anything that’s basic and core, that looks a little bit warmed over and it’s a need-based thing as opposed to an impulse and a want, it’s not doing as well,” said Sullivan. “So were in a real fashion cycle right now, and that certainly seems to be the case. And that’s at every channel of distribution. So it doesnt matter what type of customer, a retailer I was talking to, that seems to be consistent across the landscape.”

She also said Famous is continuing to look to get more productivity out of its store base, including pruning its real estate over the last 18 months with the aim of driving its sales per square closer to $200 per square feet.

Some of its stores opened over the last year are in the $215 range. Famous has also reduced the amount of BOGO days in favor of adding better brands and investing in marketing to engage customers. Said Sullivan, “Now, Famous Footwear has fantastic national brands at a great value, a very different idea.”

On the wholesale side, one growth spot is the “healthy living” trend that’s also seen in beauty and food. Said Sullivan, “People want to be the best they can be, feel good, live a great lifestyle.” Brands such as Naturalizer, Dr. Scholl’s and the new Naya are targeting this opportunity as well as brands such as Avia and Ryka that came with its recent acquisition of American Sporting Goods.

Regarding price inflation, Sullivan said that across the company, it sees product costs increasing somewhere between 5 percent to 10 percent. It expects to pass most of those costs to consumers in the back half of the year although she said it depends on the brand and the situation.

“On the wholesale side in particular, we really dont want to destroy the integrity of the product that we are delivering to the customer,” said Sullivan. “You get a short-term pop maybe on that, but over the long term the customer knows that you are cheating them. So we want to make sure that we dont do that, and that were really thoughtful about how we manage the price points. And at Famous, it’s again, they will think about it the same way and manage the price point in a way that does the job.”