Matt Priest, president and CEO of Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA), issued a statement highlighting the impact that higher footwear prices are having on families, as the Labor Department reported an uptick in inflation on Thursday, September 11.
The Labor Department reported consumer prices in August were up 2.9 percent from a year ago, an acceleration versus the 2.7 percent gain seen in July. Prices rose 0.4 percent between July and August, compared to a 0.2 percent increase the previous month.
FDRA stated in its announcement that August marked the fastest increase in inflation in seven months, the second fastest in fourteen months, and the fourth consecutive month of accelerating inflation.
FDRA reported that retail footwear prices increased by 1.4 percent year-over-year in August, the most in seventeen months and the second fastest in thirty-three months. Women’s footwear rose 2.8 percent in August, the most in thirty-four months, and kids’ footwear prices climbed 0.9 percent, the fastest so far this year. Men’s footwear prices eased 0.2 percent lower but have still risen in fourteen of the last nineteen months.
FDRA blamed the higher prices on tariffs, noting that 98 percent of footwear sold at retail is sourced abroad. In the latest month, duties paid on footwear imports climbed a near-record 108.7 percent year-over-year to $635.8 million, according to FDRA.
Matt Priest, president and CEO of the FDRA, said, “The latest inflation numbers show what families already know — shoes are getting more expensive. Footwear prices jumped 1.4 percent year-over-year, the most significant increase in 17 months, with women’s shoes spiking 2.8 percent, the highest in two and a half years.
“Shoes aren’t a luxury — they’re a necessity. Yet tariffs keep driving up costs and forcing families to pay more. If the administration is serious about lowering costs, the fastest way to deliver relief is to roll back tariffs on shoes and other everyday essentials.”
Image courtesy Puma
