U.S. shoemaker Weyco swung to a third-quarter loss as lower casual and formalwear sales offset a strong performance from the Bogs North American outdoor wholesale unit.
The company, which also owns the Florsheim, Stacy Adams and Nunn Bush brands, reported a net loss of $5.9 million for the three months to Sept. 30 compared to a $6.6 million profit a year earlier.
Net sales fell to $53.2 million from $82.5 million a year earlier driven by people working from home during Covid-19 lockdowns. At Florsheim, Stacy Adams, and Nunn Bush sales were down by 58 percent, 55 percent, and 32 percent respectively.
However, wholesale sales for Bogs in North America rose by 6 percent due to increased demand in the outdoor footwear market as consumers continue to spend more time outside during the pandemic, Weyco said, without giving a cash figure.
Chief executive Thomas Florsheim said a decision to hold “significant inventory levels” in Bogs core lines this autumn had paid off “as there is a shortage of boots in the marketplace”.
There were also more sales of lifestyle-oriented footwear not as dependent on wet weather, which the manager described as “a key component to future Bogs’ growth”, adding that he was “excited by the positive consumer reception”.
Other net sales, including wholesale and retail at Florsheim Australia and Florsheim Europe, were $4.8 million compared to $9.5 million a year ago due to retail shutdowns and stay-at-home orders.
Florsheim Australia and Europe made a combined loss from operations of $3.8 million compared to a $1.4-million loss last year, and the chief executive said he was reviewing the future of the European business as he looked at costs across the group.
“It’s been a small division for us and one […] that has been very moderately profitable some years, some years its lost a little bit of money,” Florsheim said. “We are studying […] whether that’s really something that we’re going to go forward with.”
“While our top-line continues to be challenged by the far-reaching effects of Covid-19, we are encouraged by the recent pick-up in orders we experienced in our wholesale business in August and September,” Florsheim added. “We are pleased with the strong performance of our e-commerce websites. We have taken measures to right-size our cost structure across our organization, which allowed us to return to profitability in our wholesale business in the third quarter.”
