All Shoe Intelligence articles in Volume 27, Issue 21+22
View all stories from this issue.
-
PDF NewsletterShoe Intelligence Executive Edition: Vol. 27 - 21+22
Advance Capital Partners and Mass to acquire Leder & Schuh | Arklyz continues to expand in footwear with the acquisition of Gabor | Royer goes into receivership | Birkenstock buys its Australian distributor | Marc O’Polo opens new shoe showrooms in Stephanskirchen, Hamburg | Snipes scraps planned logistics hub in Bedburg | German independent shoe stores close as retail crisis deepens | Austrian shoe retailers post a strong sales increase in H1 | Görtz is also insolvent in Austria, investor plans comeback in Hamburg | BioShoes4All project nears finish line with campaign to promote conscious consumption | Shoe Zone trims its profit guidance again, retains cautious outlook | Ferragamo posts encouraging Q3 sales | Prada posts 19 quarters of consecutive sales growth | Armani appoints a CEO | Italian prosecutor seeks to put Tod’s under court administration | How an Italian startup is proving to be the perfect fit for leading fashion brands | C-Suite interview: Allsides set to open NY flagship as it expands capacity, fine-tunes scanner technology | Deckers Brands rolls out cautious guidance after better-than-expected Q2 | Crocs’ sales fall 6% as the company takes steps to enable future growth | Boot Barn raises guidance after strong Q2, increases store opening ambitions | Rocky Brands’ Q3 sales rise 7% as Xtratuf’s momentum continues | Oofos names Deckers Brands’ former head as co-CEO | Toms hires a new CEO | Stella plans to boost annual production by 20m pairs | India fails to increase its share in global footwear exports
-
ArticleMarc O’Polo opens shoe showrooms in Stephanskirchen and Hamburg
The Swedish-German fashion label Marc O’Polo is accelerating its European expansion with the opening of two shoe showrooms in Stephanskirchen, its Bavarian hometown, and Hamburg. The Stephanskirchen showroom, located at Hofgartenstraße 2, covers 120 square meters, while the Hamburg site covers approximately 150 square meters. Both locations are ...
-
News briefs
Haglöfs reorganizes sales team in Southern Germany, Austria
The Swedish outdoor specialist Haglöfs has reshuffled its sales team in Southern Germany and Austria as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen its Central European sales structure. Bavarian-born sales expert Max Hagl has taken over sales responsibilities in Bavaria, succeeding Lisa Wendl, who will leave the company in December. ...
-
News briefs
BasicNet’s revenues rise slightly
BasicNet, which owns Kappa, Superga, Sebago and other brands, reported consolidated revenues of €303.4 million for the first nine months of 2025, up by 2.5 percent year-over-year. Ebitda slipped to €39.8 million from €40.6 million a year earlier, and Ebit dropped to €23.4 million from €26.9 million. Aggregate brand sales ...
-
News briefs
Intertek opens footwear testing lab in US
Intertek inaugurated on Oct. 29 a footwear testing facility in Bentonville, Arkansas, home to the US retailer Walmart. The Bentonville Footwear Center of Excellence is the British group’s first footwear testing laboratory in the country. ”Adding to our twenty-three consumer products sites in the US, the new facility, located in ...
-
News briefs
R.M. Williams expands production capacity
R.M. Williams has opened a second workshop at its Adelaide site, bolstering the production capacity of the Australian bootmaker by 90 percent. The new 20,000-square-meter facility will increase the company’s manufacturing and distribution footprint to 29,500 square meters. In 2020, an Australian billionaire, Andrew Forrest, bought R.M. Williams, the producer ...
-
News briefs
German firms find it increasingly difficult to predict their business development
German companies are finding it increasingly difficult to predict their further business development, according to a survey conducted by economic research institute Ifo. Some 77.8 percent of companies surveyed by Ifo in October said it was difficult or fairly difficult to predict their business development, up from 75.4 percent ...
-
News briefs
Wolverine named 2025 Company of the Year by Footwear News
Wolverine Worldwide has been named 2025 Company of the Year by Footwear News and will be recognized at the Footwear News Achievement Awards (FNAA) on Dec. 3, in New York City. “Being named Company of the Year by Footwear News is a testament to the innovation, drive, and resilience of ...
-
ArticleCrocs' sales fall 6% as the company takes steps to enable future growth
Crocs said it is taking strategic steps to lay the foundations for future growth after reporting a decline in sales in the third quarter that was nonetheless less than expected. In the three months ended Sept. 30, Crocs’ enterprise revenues fell by 6.2 percent, or by 6.8 percent on a ...
-
ArticleBoot Barn raises guidance after strong Q2, increases store opening ambitions
Boot Barn raised its ambitions for new store openings and hiked guidance for its full fiscal year after posting another strong set up results in its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 27 and in the first four weeks of its third quarter. Following work with an unnamed third party, Boot ...
-
News briefs
US, China agree on a truce in trade war
Following a meeting on Oct. 30 in Busan, South Korea, the US President, Donald Trump, and the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, reached a multi-point agreement to ease trade tensions. China agreed to suspend its new rare-earth export controls for one year, effectively maintaining access to critical materials for US ...
-
News briefs
ISPO to move to Amsterdam
A new joint venture between Messe München and the UK’s Raccoon Media Group will take over the ISPO trade show from 2026, relocating it from Munich to Amsterdam and launching a €3 million investment program to reinvent the event’s format. The trade fair is Europe’s largest and the world’s ...
-
News briefsCoats completes OrthoLite acquisition
Coats Group, the British manufacturer of industrial threads and footwear components, announced on Oct. 30 that it had completed its acquisition of OrthoLite, the producer of footwear materials and insoles, as well as of Cirql, OrthoLite’s brand of sustainable materials. As we’ve reported, Coats announced its intentions back in July, ...
-
ArticleRoyer goes into receivership
Groupe Royer, which is struggling with its debt burden, was placed into receivership by a commercial tribunal based in Rennes, Brittany, the region where the French footwear company is based. “To cope with the successive crises since 2022, the group has implemented various plans to revitalize its business and improve ...
-
ArticleGerman independent shoe stores close as retail crisis deepens
A growing number of independent, family-run shoe stores across Germany are closing their doors after decades in business, underscoring the deepening struggles of the country’s traditional retail sector, increasingly dominated by larger chains and online shopping. Changing consumer habits, high rents and a lack of successors are rapidly accelerating a ...
-
News briefs
Zalando appoints a new CFO
Zalando has named Anna Dimitrova as its next Chief Financial Officer. On Jan. 1, 2026, she will succeed Sandra Dembeck, who will be leaving the company at the end of 2025 to pursue new professional opportunities. Dimitrova brings extensive international finance and digital experience from Vodafone Germany, where she served ...
-
ArticleRocky Brands' Q3 sales rise 7% as Xtratuf's momentum continues
Rocky Brands generated sales of $122.5 million, up 7.0 percent compared to the year earlier, as Xtratuf continued to lead sales gains and the company pursued actions to mitigate the impact of trade tariffs, which yielded results. Management reaffirmed guidance for the full year of four to five percent growth ...
-
ArticleVF Corporation exceeds Q2 FY26 expectations with strong core brands
The US clothing group is making noticeable progress in its restructuring. Strong outdoor brands and cost discipline are providing tailwinds, but price pressure and consumer reluctance remain stumbling blocks. The priority now is to secure profitability and further reduce debt.
-
ArticleBioShoes4All project nears finish line with campaign to promote conscious consumption
BioShoes4All, an initiative to bolster the sustainability of Portugal’s footwear supply chain launched in 2022, is nearing the finish line, with the Portuguese footwear industry association Apiccaps announcing in mid-October that 85 percent of BioShoes4All projects had been completed and unveiling an international campaign to promote the conscious consumption of ...
-
News briefs
German consumer confidence worsens
German consumer confidence is expected to worsen in November, falling to -24-1 from -22.5 in October, according to the GfK Consumer Climate, published jointly by NIQ/GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM). The October reading was revised down from a preliminary -22.3. “The ongoing tense geopolitical situation, increasing ...
