Designer Brands, Inc (DBI) CEO Doug Howe is once again calling its Topo Athletic (Topo) footwear brand the star performer after sales for the brand jumped 45 percent year-over-year in the 2025 second quarter. Howe’s comments came during the comapny quarterly conference call with analysts on Tesday, September 9.
Topo’s 45 percent gain in the quarter follows a sales hike of 84 percent in the first quarter and growth of nearly 80 percent in 2024. DBI acquired the brand in December 2022 and Founder Tony Post stayed on to steer the business.
“At Topo, we continue to meaningfully expand door count and shelf space in existing locations,” Howe said on the call.
In the first quarter, Topo ended the period with over 1,200 points of domestic distribution, an increase of 43 percent versus the first quarter of 2024.
Howe also noted that Topo was early in raising prices as tariff risks materialized and that has helped the brand’s profitability in the second quarter. Howe said, “We have seen no impact on sales or growth rates by doing so.”
Tony Post, founder and CEO of Topo Athletic, spoke with SGB Executive about the drivers behind the company’s big sales gain in the second quarter, following a sales hike of 84 percent in the first quarter and growth of nearly 80 percent in 2024.
SGB: What drove the growth in the quarter?
Tony Post: Strong growth across all channels: domestic wholesale, DTC/Website, and international. Growth could have been higher, but low stock in key models, primarily due to sourcing changes required by tariffs, limited gains. YTD sales are up 62 percent.
SGB: Is the growth balanced across channels, or are you seeing one channel, such as run or outdoor, driving the growth?
Tony Post: Growth is balanced: slightly higher in women’s and road categories, but only a few percentage points difference in both. Strong sell-through drove reorders; however, we could have achieved better results with more stock.
SGB: It sounds like it’s mostly expanding door count and shelf space in existing locations.
Tony Post: That’s true, mostly driven by increased assortments, better rate of sale and larger pre-book shipments as dealers gain confidence in Topo sell-through. Sales are up far more than door count.
SGB: Are there any key accounts you would like to highlight?
Tony Post: REI had great sell-through in Q2, but almost all accounts are up nicely.
SGB: Are you gaining new accounts?
Tony Post: Yes, we’ve picked up another 120-plus doors YTD, with solid independents in that mix. Independents are still the backbone of our business.
SGB: Doug Howe, CEO of Designer Brands, told analysts that Topo was able to raise prices early to help mitigate tariff costs in the latest quarter. Could you discuss the Topo’s pricing actions and other mitigation efforts?
Tony Post: On May 1, we raised prices $2.50 at wholesale ($5 retail) on all models, but we honored all existing dealer orders in the system, so only orders written May 1 or later were affected. In fact, dealer margins benefited from a higher retail price on a lower cost basis. We also shifted nearly all U.S. production to Vietnam. We were more balanced in sourcing between Vietnam and China, but with the uncertainty surrounding China and tariffs going forward, we increased our Vietnam production, while maintaining our China production to service our non-US markets.
SGB: The overall running category has recently benefited from strong growth in run-inspired styles on the lifestyle side, as well as retro running models. Is Topo benefiting from that as well?
Tony Post: I’m sure many folks are buying Topo for casual use, but we’re seeing increased consumer interest among runners, thru-hikers, trail runners, the medical community, and general fitness enthusiasts. There is a growing awareness of the brand generally.
SGB: What are your expectations for the back half?
Tony Post: We have a very healthy order backlog going into H2 with several new products set to launch in November, January and February. While the macroeconomic environment is always a factor, our target customers, who are committed to performance and comfort, seem to be more unyielding in their purchase intent.
Images courtesy Topo Athletic/Designer Brands, Inc.
