Latest News Briefs
-
News briefs
French footwear sales edge down in November
In November, French footwear retail sales slipped by a seasonally and working-day adjusted 0.1 percent month-on-month, according to the Bank of France. Overall retail sales in France rose a seasonally and work-day adjusted 1.5 percent from October, when they rose by 0.2 percent. ...
-
News briefs
German consumer confidence worses
German consumer confidence is expected to worsen in January, falling to -26.9 from -23.4 in December, according to the GfK Consumer Climate, published jointly by NIQ/GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM). The December reading was revised down from a preliminary -23.3. “Consumer sentiment in Germany is disappointing ...
-
News briefs
Birkenstock opens its 15th store in the US
Birkenstock opened its 15th company-owned retail store in the United States. The shop is located in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, just outside Boston, where the brand opened a store last year in Newbury Street. The Chestnut Hill store offers products for women, men and kids, including the brand’s iconic sandals and ...
-
News briefs
Bi&Do obtains the Guardiani license for footwear
Bi&Do has obtained until 2040 the footwear license for the Guardiani brand. Based in Noventa Padovana, in the Italian footwear cluster of Riviera del Brenta, Bi&Do has already launched its first collection under the Guardiani brand for the spring/summer 2026 season. However, as part of its effort to spur its ...
-
News briefs
German economic sentiment improves
Economic sentiment in Germany improved in December to 45.8 from 38.5 the previous month, according to the monthly indicator of the economic research institute ZEW. However, assessments of the current economic situation in Germany deteriorated slightly, falling by 2.3 points to -81.0 points. “Expectations have become more positive,” said ...
-
News briefs
Apparel Group launches Levi’s Kids in India
Apparel Group, the Dubai-based international fashion and lifestyle retail conglomerate, launched Levi’s Kids in the Indian market. “The expansion marks a significant milestone in the ongoing relationship between Apparel Group and Levi Strauss & Co., bringing one of the world’s most loved denim brands to a younger generation of Indian ...
-
News briefs
Shoe Carnival renews a $50m share backbuy
Shoe Carnival’s board authorized a new share repurchase program of up to $50 million of its outstanding common stock, effective Jan. 1. The new share repurchase program will replace an existing $50 million share repurchase program that was authorized on Dec. 11, 2024, and will expire on Dec. 31, 2025. ...
-
News briefs
Caleres declares a quarterly dividend of $0.07 per share
Caleres announced that its board of directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.07 per share to be paid on Jan. 9, 2026, to shareholders of record as of Dec. 26, 2025. The dividend is in line with the previous quarter. Caleres has paid consecutive quarterly dividends for over ...
-
News briefs
Keen appoints a Senior Director for Keen Effect
Keen appointed Ann Radil as Senior Director of the Keen Effect, the company’s sustainability, philanthropy and advocacy platform. Radil reports to Rory Fuerst, the President and CEO of the Portland, Oregon, based hiking and footwear brand, and will oversee climate action, circular economy initiatives and green chemistry programs. Radil ...
-
News briefs
Fitasy unveils custom-fit 3D-printed shoes
Fitasy has unveiled breakthrough technology enabling custom-fit 3D-printed shoes via smartphone scanning, designed to enhance foot health and reduce waste. The Indianapolis-based sport tech company, announced on Dec. 9 a patent-pending “scan-to-print” solution that allows consumers to create custom-fit 3D-printed shoes using only a smartphone. The process captures a precise ...
-
News briefs
Dr. Martens opens store in Dresden as expansion in Germany resumes
Dr. Martens has opened its first store in Dresden, at Prager Strasse 8 in the city center of the Saxon capital, marking a renewed push into the German market. The 82-square-meter shop carries the full range of the British company’s boots, shoes and sandals. The interior reflects the brand’s industrial ...
-
News briefs
Deichmann loses court battle over waste disposal fees
Deichmann has lost a legal dispute at the Gelsenkirchen Administrative Court over waste disposal costs, according to media reports. The Essen-based footwear retailer had sought exemption from Germany’s system participation obligation, or Systembeteiligungspflicht, which requires businesses to pay fees for the recycling and disposal of packaging intended for private consumers. ...
-
News briefs
EU scales back corporate sustainability rules
EU lawmakers reached a political agreement on Dec 9 to significantly scale back corporate sustainability and due diligence obligations under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). The deal was concluded during a trilogue between the European Commission, Parliament and Council. According to ...
-
News briefsOrthoLite hires a Country Manager for Indonesia
OrthoLite has hired Marco Grott to serve as Country Manager for Indonesia, which COO Richard Bevan calls a “critical market” for the company. Grott will be handling overall operations and business strategy and helping OrthoLite to expand its local-for-local manufacturing. Grott began his career in the early 1990s, spending three ...
-
News briefs
Sabu promotes Lisa Weinrank to Head of Marketing & Consumer Experience
The German shoe retail cooperative Sabu has appointed Lisa Weinrank as its new Head of Marketing and Consumer Experience, effective Dec. 1, according to a statement. The marketing expert succeeds Albrecht Kersten, who had been appointed to the role in December 2024. Weinrank, 34, joined the Heilbronn-based retail group in ...
-
News briefs
Skechers President Michael Greenberg enters the Footwear News Hall of Fame
Skechers’s co-founder and President, Michael Greenberg, has been inducted into the Footwear News 2025 Hall of Fame. “Honoring his indelible imprint on the footwear industry, the accolade recognizes Greenberg’s many achievements, including his global retail vision which now encompasses 5,300 Skechers stores—key to the brand’s position as the world’s third-largest ...
-
News briefs
Toms hires a new Chief Commercial Officer
Toms has hired Katie Wagner, a former Crocs and Heydude executive as its Chief Commercial Officer. She will oversee the brand’s global sales channels, including wholesale sales and operations, e-commerce and marketplaces. “Katie is unrivaled in building commercial relationships, laying a strong strategic foundation for sales and bringing ...
-
News briefs
Alohas opens a store in Copenhagen
The Spanish footwear and clothing brand Alohas has opened a store in Copenhagen as it continues its international expansion. In 2024, the brand launched stores in Barcelona and Madrid. Alohas opened its first foreign store in Paris in September 2024, followed by openings in Milan, Amsterdam, New York and ...
-
News briefs
Humanoid robots seen deployed globally over the next 5 years
Humanoid robots are set to be deployed globally in commercial applications across a range of industries over the next five years, according to the Japanese investment bank Daiwa. Robots are becoming viable options in handling repetitive and simple tasks, it noted. Over the next five years, there should be a ...
-
News briefs
Baffin promotes Jessica Liut to Vice President, Marketing
Baffin, a Canadian brand of high-performance footwear and apparel founded in 1979, has promoted Jessica Liut to the position of Vice President, Marketing. ”This advancement represents a deserved recognition of leadership, and a strategic reinforcement of Baffin’s ongoing focus on brand growth, market expansion, and enhanced integration across commercial teams,” ...
