All Distribution articles
-
Article
Austrian footwear retail under pressure but Deichmann enjoys steady growth
The Austrian footwear retail sector has undergone a dramatic transformation in recent years, encountering new challenges amid a profound shift in consumer behavior, a survey from the market research company RegioData showed. Since 2014, the number of stores in the country has dropped by a whopping 23 percent as ...
-
News briefs
Agilitas Sports obtains the Lotto license for India, Australia and South Africa
WHP Global announced a long-term license agreement for Lotto giving the Indian company Agilitas Sports the exclusive rights to design, manufacture, promote and distribute the brand in India, Australia and South Africa. Abhishek Ganguly, the co-founder and CEO of Agilitas Sports said “we are excited to launch our first consumer ...
-
Article
How an iconic Italian footwear brand went from rags to riches
In just a few years, Valleverde’s turnover has increased more than twenty-fold, surging from €1.5 million in 2015 to €32 million in 2023. Last year, the top line was up by 28 percent compared with 2022. In 2015, Elvio Silvagni took one of the best-known Italian shoe brands out of ...
-
News briefs
P448 sets up a European joint venture with The Camp Brands
The Italian footwear label P448 has formed a joint venture with The Camp Brands, a Spanish firm specializing in the distribution of brands. The joint venture, called P448 Europa, will be managed by Javier Carera, the co-founder of The Camp Brands. It will expand P448’s distribution in Europe as well ...
-
Article
C-Suite interview: Palmroth plans to double its sales in three years
Palmroth is a family-owned footwear company based in Tampere, Finland, whose history dates back to 1928. Largely centered on winter shoes, the brand aims to double its sales volumes within the next three years. Run by Mikko Palmroth, who represents the third generation at the helm, the company sells annually ...
-
Article
VF expands its partnership with GMG
VF Corp. is expanding its partnership with the retail conglomerate GMG in order to grow in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and South East Asia (SEA) regions. The US group, whose portfolio includes the brands Vans, The North Face and Timberland, has been collaborating with the Dubai-based retail ...
-
Article
Tempe to build a new distribution center in Valencia region
Tempe, the footwear unit of Inditex, will build a new 141,000 square-meter distribution center in the Valencia region. The announcement was made by Inditex which plans to invest €900 million a year in 2024 and 2025 to increase its logistics capacity. The other projects include a new 286,000 square-meter distribution ...
-
Article
Designer Brands hit by a weaker footwear market
Designer Brands reported a decline in fourth-quarter sales due to a deterioration of the footwear market in North America. When announcing the results for the quarter ending on Feb. 3, the CEO, Doug Howe, said that the footwear company enjoyed a rebound in the latter part of the period but ...
-
Article
Russian footwear brands adapt their product range to better suit online marketplaces
As e-commerce consolidates its dominance in the Russian footwear market, brands are looking into opportunities to improve their positioning in this segment. In 2023, one of the key trends on the Russian market of fashion goods was that brands were designing new collections specially for online marketplaces, according to a ...
-
News briefs
Allbirds finalises distribution agreements in Japan and Australasia
Allbirds has finalized two distribution agreements in Australasia and Japan. With the completion of the deals, Allbirds has transitioned four international regions from direct selling to a distributor model. The shift from a direct go-to-market model to a third-party distributor model is one of the key pillars under Allbirds’s previously ...
-
Article
Aldo to produce bags under the Hunter brand
Aldo Group has entered into another licensing agreement with Authentic Brands Broup (ABG). Under the deal, the Canadian footwear company will take on the design, production and distribution of bags and small leather goods for men and women in the US and Canada. Hunter’s bag collection will launch for the ...
-
News briefs
Skechers opens a new distribution center in Japan
Skechers is launching a new high-tech distribution center in Minato City, Tokyo. The facility was built with technology from Hai Robotics, with support from material handling consulting company MHE Solutions. The investment is meant to help Skechers meet the growing demand for its products on the Japanese market. The Hai ...
-
Article
Kenyan footwear producer seeks a partner to launch leather-shoe production
Saagar Shah, whose family owns and manages Kenya Suitcase Manufacturers (KSM), is planning to enter the leather-shoe market and is seeking a partner with skills in the production of uppers. The Mombasa-based company generates half its revenues from the production of rubber boots, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) shoes, for adults and ...
-
Article
How Starlet continues to develop its fashion line as it grapples with adverse forex
The Starlet group, a Pakistani shoemaker based in Lahore, has continued to develop its line of fashion shoes, with a foray into women’s footwear, while having to deal with the consequences of a sharp devaluation of the local currency. Between early 2022 and September 2023, the Pakistani rupee declined by ...
-
Article
How Kidderminster Footwear weathered Brexit
Like other British exporters, Kidderminster Footwear suffered the double-whammy of the Covid-19 pandemic, which broke out in Europe in the latter part of the first quarter of 2020, and the UK’s departure from the European Union on Jan. 1, 2021, the so-called Brexit. The company states that its business, excluding ...
-
Article
Parallel imports rise in Russia
Parallel imports of fashion goods in Russia are increasing despite calls by Russian footwear manufacturers for a clampdown. A surge in Russian shoe imports at the end of 2023 was primarily attributed to the parallel imports, disclosed Igor Ulyanov, vice president of the Russian union of light industry, Soyuzlegprom. In ...
-
Article
Sanctions weigh on Turkish plans to expand exports to Russia
A fresh round of U.S. sanctions is reportedly jeopardizing the planned growth of Turkish footwear exports to Russia and other post-Soviet countries. Turkish footwear companies are looking to expand exports to Russia, Central Asia and the Middle East to compensate for the losses suffered in Europe, according to the Turkish ...
-
Article
C-Suite interview: Rohde enters the U.S. market and expands its European online business
Rohde is continuing its recovery by entering the U.S. market and expanding to most of Europe its business-to-consumer (B2C) online platform, which is currently limited to Germany. On May 3–4, 2023, Rohde took part as an “education sponsor” in the Leadership Conference of the US National Shoe Retailers Association held ...
-
Article
Birkenstock targets running specialty shops with its footbed
In the U.S., Birkenstock is targeting running specialty stores by offering its signature sandals with an orthopaedic footbed as recovery footwear for athletes after their workout. The move is part of the German brand’s diversification strategy in a key market. “In Q4, we took advantage of the macroeconomic situation to ...
-
Article
Arklyz to buy Lloyd Shoes from Ara
Arklyz AG, based in Stans, Switzerland, has signed a definitive agreement to buy the German brand Lloyd Shoes, along with all its operating subsidiaries, from Ara. The buyer plans to provide support and resources to grow Lloyd’s wholesale, omnichannel and international business. The transaction is expected to close in the ...