Footwear Plus | June 2017

GOING GAGA FOR GUCCI

•

MEET THE QUEEN BEE OF THE SHOE HIVE

•

TREND SPOTTING : WHY GRAY MATTERS

J U N E 2 0 1 7 ƫ Ă Ĉ ƫ đ ƫ ƫ Ć ƫ đ ƫ ĸāĀ

JUNGLE LOVE

Designers Pelt it Out of the Park

EXPERIENCE THE BØRN FOOTWEAR SPRING 2018 COLLECTION AT FFANY

NY Showroom | 575 7th Avenue | 15th Floor | New York, NY

J U N E 2 0 17 FEATU R ES 10 The Gucci Effect Creative Director Alessandro Michele’s kaleidoscopic vision is redefining luxury while spawning a wave of imitators. By Ann Loynd 12 Family Matters Kevin Bosco, president of Bos. & Co., on building a wholesale business the old-fashioned way: through great products and loyal relationships.

By Greg Dutter 18 It’s All Good The fifth-annual Two Ten Foundation Footwear Cares event reaches record levels of volunteerism and shifts to a year-round effort.

By Greg Dutter and Ann Loynd 22 Queen Bee Elizabeth Todd, owner of The Shoe Hive, generates a steady buzz thanks to her sharp eye for spotting the latest trends.

By Emily Beckman

EDITORIAL Ann Loynd Fashion Editor Emily Beckman Associate Editor Kathy Passero Editor at Large Melodie Jeng Contributing Photographer ADVERTISING/ PRODUCTION Jennifer Craig Associate Publisher Katie Belloff Associate Art Director Production Manager Ana Novikova Office Administration Bruce Sprague Circulation Director Mike Hoff Digital Director

DEPA RTM ENTS

Circulation 26202 Detroit Road, #300 Westlake, OH 44145 Tel: (440) 871-1300 circulation@9Threads.com

6 This Just In 8 Scene & Heard On the cover: silk animal-print pumps by Baldinini, Haute Hippie bodysuit, Amenpapa leggings, fur by Cadieux, Marcmarcs socks.

24 Note To My Younger Self

Photography by Trevett McCandliss Fashion editor and stylist: Ann Loynd; hair and makeup: Matthew Sky/Next Artists; model: Daphne D./Wilhelmina Models.

40 What’s Selling

26 Trend Spotting 38 Shoe Salon 42 Kids 44 Last Word

FOOTWEAR PLUS ™ (ISSN#1054-898X) The fashion magazine of the footwear industry is published monthly (except for bimonthly April/May and October/November editions) by Symphony Publishing NY, LLC, 36 Cooper Square, 4th fl., New York, NY, 10003-7118. The publishers of this magazine do not accept responsibility for statements made by their advertisers in business competition. Periodicals postage is paid in New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Subscription price for one year: $48.00 in the U.S. Rates oustide the U.S. are available upon request. Single copy price: $10.00. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to FOOTWEAR PLUS, P.O. Box 8548, Lowell, MA 01853-8548. Publisher not responsible for unsolicited articles or photos. Any photographs, artwork, manuscripts, editorial samples or merchandise sent for editorial consideration are sent at the sole risk of the sender. Symphony Publishing NY, LLC, will assume no responsibility for loss or damage. No portion of this issue may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. ©2008 by Symphony Publishing NY, LLC. Printed in the United States.

2 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

Nancy Campbell Trevett McCandliss Creative Directors

28 Wild Things Fantastical furs, exotic skins and haute hides breath life into designer collections.

By Ann Loynd

4 Editor’s Note

This page: Joan Oloff cheetah shoeties, Zadig & Voltaire vest, Cinq á Sept dress, Marcmarcs fishnets, stylist’s own necklace.

Greg Dutter Editorial Director

OFFICES Advertising/Editorial 135 W. 20th St., Suite 402 New York, NY 10011 Tel: (646) 278-1550 Fax: (646) 278-1553 editorialrequests@ 9Threads.com

PA G E

28

Caroline Diaco Publisher

Corporate 9Threads 26202 Detroit Road, #300 Westlake, OH 44145 Tel: (440) 871-1300 Xen Zapis Chairman Lee Zapis President Rich Bongorno Chief Financial Officer Debbie Grim Controller

SPRING 2018 SHOW

EDITOR’S NOT E

Silver Linings Playbook

Looking for Good WELL, THE LATEST quarterly sales reports came in and—surprise—department stores took another drubbing. The figures were “WannaCry”like with comparable store sales down at J.C. Penney, Macy’s, Kohl’s and Nordstrom, to cite a few. Perhaps more telling of the latter: Nordstrom Rack sales were up 2.3 percent. As primarily a full-price retailer that’s invested millions in brick-and-mortar shopping meccas in the priciest retail real estate areas, success of its off-price offshoot isn’t necessarily something to hang one’s hat on.

Of course, the media jumped all over the dismal numbers, proclaiming them the death of department stores and the imminent end of brick-and-mortar. The former may be accurate for a few that appear much closer to the abyss than, say, Nordstrom. When, for example, Sears CEO Eddie Lampert blogged recently that the company’s vendors are to blame for the beleaguered chain’s problems, one can assume it has reached the bottom of its long death spiral. Claiming vendors have been embarrassing Sears in the press and—worse—trying to extort better payment conditions is last-gasp reckless. Lampert first attacked the press for Sears’ problems and, to be fair, the media has been laying it on thick. Headlines such as “It’s Not Just Macy’s: Department Stores are in a Death Spiral” (Time); and “Bloodbath for Retail Stocks Rolls On” (Wall Street Journal) aren’t necessarily fair and balanced in tone. And with ones like, “Sears and Kmart Might Not Have Enough Money to Stock Their Shelves” (USA Today) and “Home Depot Crushing Sears and Other Struggling Retailers” (Fox Business News), you can see why Lampert would be angry. Still, accusing vendors of extortion isn’t the best way to maintain the very relationships that enable Sears to be a retailer.

It’s why this month’s Q&A (p. 12) with Kevin Bosco, president of Bos. & Co., is such a refreshing read. The family-owned company (distributors of Fly London and makers of Softinos and a namesake brand) has been on a 28-year streak of sales gains. But rather than pat his company on the back, Bosco credits its loyal retail partners (who are primarily specialty independents) for its success. Bosco has no plans to expand deep into DTC selling. As he puts it, “We’re not interested in helping put our customers out of business.” Good for Bos. & Co. and good for its retail partners, many of whom are doing

well, Bosco says. They are nimble and savvy, while aircraft carrierlike department store chains struggle to turn on a dime.

No doubt these are unchartered and stormy waters. No one seems to have a clear view of what lies ahead, other than the online segment continuing to garner a larger piece of the overall retail pie. But maybe a little perspective is warranted before everyone abandons ship on brick-and-mortar. Industry studies peg its current market share at about 85 percent. Granted, online’s share may be snowballing now, but there are shoe shopping–specific factors to consider. While online has its share of positives—selection, convenience, free shipping—it has drawbacks too, like fit issues, return hassles and counterfeiting concerns. Plus, many consumers like to touch and try on shoes before buying. If stores are inviting, service is helpful and the selection is enticing, what’s not to like? It’s not like shopping for cat litter, where the rewards are few and the chance of suffering a hernia picking up a 25-pound box are great. Shoe shopping is about feeling stylish, sporty, comfortable…in a word, good. There’s intrinsic value in that experience, provided it can be protected—starting with enforced MAP policies.

This month’s retail profile (p. 22) of The Shoe Hive in Alexandria, VA, illustrates how enjoyable shopping for shoes can be. Owner Elizabeth Todd has been serving a growing swarm of customers since 2003. The store’s setting in the city’s Old Town neighborhood is charming. (Location is everything.) The decor is warm and inviting. The help is friendly and knowledgeable. The selection is killer.

Last, Todd has teamed with many of the area’s 200-plus boutiques and restaurants to showcase the district as an all-your-shoppingneeds-and-dining destination. “I believe I have a great store, but I’m not good enough for people to fight traffic to just come to my store,” she admits. Perhaps that’s one of Todd’s best retailing attributes— she’s pragmatic. Of course, having a good eye, good taste and a good reputation helps.

Speaking of good things, Footwear Plus, one of the founding sponsors of Two Ten Foundation’s industry-wide charitable initiative, Footwear Cares, is pleased to report that the rapidly growing program is expanding from the month of April to year-round. More efforts benefitting people in need can only be a good thing. Be sure to read our fifth annual wrap-up (p. 18) of all the good being done by our good-hearted industry. It’s a really “good” story.

Greg Dutter

Editorial Director

4 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

www.gabor.de Purveyors of luxury European comfort footwear

Tel: (800) 361-3466 - info@kannercorp.net

THIS JUST IN

need a lift?

Towering flatforms give New Yorkers a fashionable boost for spring.

Photography by Mary Kang

6 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

RestrictedShoes.com .. ......

SCENE & HEARD

Good Sports Fit to be Tried IT’S LITTLE SECRET that department stores have had a tough time of late trying to lure shoppers into their stores with the newest fashion trends and/or everyday low prices. So what’s a retailer to do with some of that slow-moving, yet highly expensive space? In the case of Saks Fifth Avenue, it has decided to go with the athleisure flow, converting 16,000 square feet of its Manhattan flagship into a fitness and wellness mecca. Dubbed the Saks Wellery, the space features 22 individual shops and studios offering the most sought-after fitness classes and equipment, activewear and skincare products.

“I’m really excited that Saks has grasped the concept that there is no divide anymore between fashion and wellness,” says Lorenzo Martone, founder and designer of Martone Cycling Co., which has a large instillation in the Wellery.

“It’s not either/or—you don’t have to sacrifice function for style because fitness is fashionable.”

Martone believes fitness is the new luxury and hopes the unique concept will drive consumers to the location. “Brick-and-mortar stores are finding ways to adapt, and Saks is positioning the Wellery to be experiential,” he notes. “Shoppers can try out our bikes, take fitness classes, participate in beauty demos and more.

It’s memorable and the act of shopping itself becomes part of the product’s value.”

SNEAKER COMPANIES HAVE turned the once limitededition collab into an endless flow of releases that can blur together. That’s why the one between designer Fratelli Rossetti and Leather Head Sports, a New Jersey–based sporting goods company, is all the more noteworthy. For starters, it’s a European design house partnering with a company that makes heirloom-quality sporting goods, such as vintage basketballs and baseballs. What’s more, the New Artisan capsule collection features a sneaker—the New York Special Edition—as well as a handmade soccer ball. (You can guess which company made which item.)

“Through the new artisan project, we aim to promote craftsmanship and the passion of doing things by hand,” says Diego Rossetti, chairman of Fratelli Rossetti. “We like to work with small companies and give them some visibility, which was really the case with Leather Head Sports.”

The project also aims to support and promote burgeoning design talent, he adds.

Of course, the unique collab also speaks directly to the heart of many soccer-loving Italians. “Italians love this sport; we play and follow it,” Rossetti says. “We’re very proud that Leather Head Sports launched this collab with us.”

Zappos Launches Special Needs Site IN AN EFFORT to better serve customers with disabilities, Zappos has introduced Zappos Adaptive, a site featuring clothing and footwear for those who have difficulty getting dressed each day. The selection includes easy-on/off slip-on shoes, styles featuring bungee laces and orthopedic options.

“Our priority is to deliver the best possible customer experience and help people find products for their needs,” says Saul David, director of Zappos Adaptive.

“Ultimately, we just want to be able to provide exceptional service to those looking for shoes and clothing that meets their needs.”

Zappos Adaptive all started following a call from a customer who couldn’t find shoes for her grandson who

8 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

couldn’t tie his own laces, according to David. The site’s premise is to allow those customers to find fashionable and functional products all in one place and avoid having to shop multiple sources. So far so good, he reports. “It has been exciting to discuss the overall vision and purpose of this initiative as this fits into the culture and purpose of Zappos and its brands,” David explains.

Going forward, David will rely on customer feedback to help evolve the Zappos Adaptive’s product offering.

“Our long-term goal is to be the platform that brings together many brands with unique products that are both functional and fashionable,” he says. “With our brand partners and advisory experts, we hope to serve a wide variety of needs and make a difference in people’s lives.”

Made in Germany.

Since 1774.

birkenstock.com

S P E C I A L R E P O RT

THE GUCCI EFFECT C r e a t i v e D i r e c t o r A l e s s a n d r o M i c h e l e’s k a l e i d o s c o p i c vision has taken footwear fashion by storm, spawning a wave of imitators and redefining luxury styling.

BY A N N LOY N D

FEW WOULD ARGUE that the sneaker is the Rank, which means on average a Gucci shoe is the current champion of footwear fashion. Luxury third product listed on online marketplaces in the Studded horsebit design houses have been forced to introduce their U.S. “Additionally, at least two out of the top 10 shoes loafer own takes on the sporty silhouette, coming off the bear the Gucci logo,” Jacob says. heels of the Birkenstock renaissance, which forced Erica Russo, OVP fashion director of accessories & them to reimagine frumpy sandals. It seems the beauty at Bloomingdale’s, confirms that Ace sneakers stiletto has become taboo in the age of athleisure, are selling well at the department store chain. “They where the houses of Nike and Adidas hold more feature fun embellishments like stars and pearls,” she sway than Prada, Dior, Versace, Ralph Lauren… says, adding, “The Bloomingdale’s customer loves But then there’s Gucci, which stands as a beacon Gucci’s styles with menswear influences and novelty of luxury in a world gone athletic. accents.” (Russo’s personal favorites are the pink When creative director Alessandro Michele Lawrence embroidered snake mules and Queercore took the helm in 2015, he presented a ankle strap flats.) worldview that was colorful, opulent and Gucci’s recent success rivals Tom Ford’s days as Velvet slipper even a little kitschy. The now-famous creative director in the 1990s. “Central to Gucci’s with removable fur-lined Princetown slides became stratospheric commercial success has been the fact that the brand platform all the rage in 2015, triggering a host is offering something different,” Hudson says. “For so long it had of imitators to let their collective hair been all about stripped-back minimalism and casual sneakers, down, so to speak, and go wild on fur and with Alessandro Michele at the helm, Gucci demonstrated accents. Then there’s the label’s horsea way to do all-out romanticism that was not only contemporary bit loafers, silk flatforms, embroidered but infinitely wearable.” slides, block-heel loafers and cross-strap Wearability is key, agrees Erika Vala, co-owner of Brooklyn mules that have also been redesigned, boutique Shoe Market NYC. “The styles are just really fun reinterpreted and simply knocked off and beautiful at the same time,” she says. by legions of competing designers and “There’s something about Gucci shoes mass-market brands. And it’s not just that are wearable and also inspired.” She Princetown slipper women’s—Gucci’s embroidered sneakers and kangaroo-fur reports renditions of rose-embroidered loafers ($995 retail) are lighting up men’s fashion as well. loafers by Intentionally Blank and Silent For the past four seasons, the house that Michele built has D (inspired by Gucci’s Princetown leather had the golden touch for footwear trends. slippers) have sold well in her store. Chic “The effect that Gucci has had on recent footwear trends and comfortable, the styles retail for $186 is immeasurable,” affirms Ella Hudson, WGSN senior editor, and $114, respectively, as compared to the accessories & footwear. “Not only has Alessandro Michele’s Princetown’s $780 price tag. “The loafer modern spin on heirloom opulence inspired a return to a highly decorative trend seems to be on the verge of oversaturation, although I think it will last aesthetic, but the brand has single-handedly made the loafer a must-have for through fall and into next spring,” Vala notes, adding, “Our customers want over four seasons straight.” shoes that are fashionable, comfortable and worth the money.”

Neenu Jacob, cofounder of Hook, a fashion discovery app that aggregates Sherwayne Mahoney, designer for independent label Things II Come, was multiple shopping websites onto one platform, reports that search queries a big fan of Gucci’s Spring ’16 collection—styles he describes as “imaginative, for Gucci’s men’s shoes are outpacing women’s. Additionally, Jacob says Gucci artful, but wearable.” For 2017, he’s “loving” the new sneaker line. “Its great flats were the most-searched footwear in April on Hook, and the label’s Ace colors and ornamentations make wearing Italian-made sneakers fun and lo-tops are second to Adidas as the most-searched sneakers so far this year. exciting,” he says. Indeed, the comfort aspects—most of Gucci’s hot sellers are Hook’s data reveals that Gucci footwear holds the number-three Visibility flats or feature a mid, block heel—cannot be overlooked. Their popular- >39 10 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

WWW.TITANINDUSTRIESINC.COM

FFANY • MAY 31 - JUNE 2 1370 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS 3RD FLOOR NY, NY 10019 • 212.977.8355

BY GREG DUTTER

FA M I LY MATTERS Kevin Bosco, PRESIDENT OF BOS. & CO.—distributors of Fly London and makers of Softinos and a namesake brand—on building a wholesale business the old-fashioned way: through great products and loyal relationships.

HINGS ARE GOING well for Bos. & Co. Despite a difficult North American retail climate, the Canada-based company just reported the best year in its 28-year history and recently cut the ribbon on its new 30,000-square-foot offices, warehouse and showroom in its hometown of Burlington, Ontario. The recent successes continue a long-running streak where each year’s sales have been better than the previous, reports company president and cofounder Kevin Bosco. And while it might not be headline-grabbing, leaps-and-bounds growth, it’s been organic, steady and dependable, which is exactly what its longtime retail partners have come to rely on. Perhaps most noteworthy, Bos. & Co.’s success defies recent conventional industry wisdom: Its primary sourcing partner is Portugal (think higher costs) and the main channel of distribution for its three contemporary comfort fashion brands is specialty independents (think fewer of them in existence).

How has that been a recipe for success when many similarly positioned brands take the opposite approach? Bosco says it starts with the shoes.

Their detail, quality and uniqueness are difference-makers at the point of sale. “Our design philosophy has always been to create original product using traditional construction techniques in unexpected ways,” he says.

One example is a California construction on a wedge heel, traditionally only done on flats. “We find different ways to do different things,” Bosco explains. “When it’s more premium product, we must have a different hand in our leathers—we have to offer color, touch and feel that raises the bar, because the next step down is black and brown.”

12 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

Bosco says the company has gone the premium route following its early years as a private label source. It succeeded—selling majors like Gap and Genesco—but fell into the lowest price–only game, traveling the world in search of cheaper sourcing and having to take quality out of the shoes. This wasn’t the Bosco way. “It didn’t necessarily depend on how innovative the designs were,” he says, adding, “That’s what drove us to become a branded company. We realized the importance of trying to build our own brands and our own identity.” It was a wise move. “Many

SAVE THE DATES! Contemporary Footwear for Men

JULY 1618, 2017

JACOB JAVITS CENTER, NYC

Luxury to Lifestyle Branded Footwear for Men, Women, Juniors, and Children

AUG 1416, 2017

LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER

Fast Fashion Footwear for Men, Women, Juniors, and Children

AUG 1416, 2017

LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER

Footwear for Women and Juniors

SEPT 1719, 2017

JACOB JAVITS CENTER, NYC

Luxury Footwear for Women

SEPT 1719, 2017

JACOB JAVITS CENTER, NYC

REGISTER NOW

visit ubmfashion.com

O&A of those large box stores we did business with—if they even still exist—now go direct to the factories,” he says.

This shift in direction led to Bos. & Co.’s independents-heavy account list.

“We had to find a niche, and it has to be distributed through the smaller chains that have to be more unique than the big retailers,” Bosco explains. “They have to offer something special, and if we’re going to be able to sell to them, then we have to do the same.” Of the company’s current 1,400 or so accounts, six of the top 10 are independent chains. “Our products go hand in hand with the customer we want to identify with,” Bosco says, noting that price points range from $100 to $350 retail. “We may not be as low as China, but we like to think our quality commands the difference,” he adds.

Bosco’s knowledge and enthusiasm for What are you reading? the shoe business shine through when he Common Ground by describes the Portuguese factories, where Canadian Prime Minister about 85 percent of the company’s collecJustin Trudeau. It’s an tions are sourced. (The remaining styles are interesting book by a secsourced in Asia with some uppers sourced ond-generation prime in India and assembled in Portugal.) He minister who has the caught the shoemaking bug early, working same outlook his father summers during high school in a Cougar had in that Canada is a shoe factory. One summer he worked on bit of a salad bowl and the cutting line, followed by the lasting there’s common ground line and the sample and pattern room. for everybody.

The education, he says, was priceless. In fact, the entire Bosco family knows shoes.

What is inspiring you Kevin’s father, James, the company coright now? Our Spring founder, and his brother, Dean, senior ’18 collections. We’ve vice president and head of sales, are also found great inspiration industry lifers. Combined, they know the in the European winbusiness inside and out. They’ve worked dows as well as from extensively in factories and have earned a recent trip I took to their stripes in sales, marketing and retail.

Morocco to check on a The Boscos are part of a dwindling breed manufacturing source. I of industry executives who operate from a also found the suit and product-first mentality. They still believe hat colors a great inspithat if you do product well, much of the ration for the two weeks rest will take care of itself. The compaI then spent working in ny’s nearly three decades of steady growth Portugal. prove them right.

None of it would have happened, howWhat is your motto? So ever, if Bosco hadn’t struck out on his own ends another wonderful after eight years working in sales at Cougar. day in the shoe business.

Noticing the quality shoes coming out of Portugal, he decided to try his hand at private label, with the financial support and wisdom of his father. In 1992, he signed a distribution agreement with Fly London for Canada. A few years later, this expanded to the U.S. The company launched Bos. & Co. in the late ’90s and, about eight years ago, introduced Softinos.

Bosco describes Fly London as contemporary fashion for a target customer aged 35 and older. “Their slogan is ‘always progressive, never conventional,’” he says of the brand, distributed in 52 countries. “It’s aimed at a middle-aged customer who wants to be fashionable, still wants to be in the know, but wants comfort—no breakneck heels,” he adds. Bosco describes Softinos as a classic Euro comfort brand, whereas Bos. & Co. is more rustic and casual. “Our strength is in waterproof boots and, for summer, lots of casual sandals,” he says of the latter. Equally important, Bosco adds, is that there isn’t any over-

lap between the brands, other than the fact that none of them are commonplace. “Our brands are well-rounded, comfort-casual and contemporary,” he says, crediting its European sourcing partners for helping to create shoes that are suitable for everyday wear but with an added style quotient.

That’s the Bos. & Co. difference. It stems from a family steeped in shoemaking tradition and a genuine love of the job. The company isn’t in search of temporary gains or quick fixes. Slow and steady has been winning the race, coupled with treating retail partners like family. After all, it’s been a family affair since day one, and Bosco has no intentions of changing philosophies now. And while the Bos. & Co. family has branched out from its original two founders to include 30 office employees, 14 reps across North America and 10 retail Do I sense a bit of sarcasm? staff members at its two Fly London flagThat can go either way, ships in New York and Toronto, it retains right? [Laughs] the same tight-knit feel. “I believe our greatest assets are close family support, What sound do you love? a dedicated sales team, loyal employees Silence. and long-term loyal clients,” Bosco says.

“Everybody here has had a lot of expeIf you could hire anyrience and everybody works together.” body? Robert Greenberg Speaking of that, one of the new[Skechers] or Richard est family members is a third-generaBranson [Virgin Group]. tion Bosco. James Dean Bosco (Dean’s They’re great innovators and son) has come aboard and, as part of would be fun to work with. his indoctrination, is spending several months in Portugal working in the facWhich talent would you tories—just like his father and grandfamost like to have? To play ther before him. “He’ll learn some of the the banjo much better. building blocks of shoemaking so he can further contribute here,” Bosco says. “That What was your first-ever knowledge about shoemaking—what can paying job? In a Cougar and cannot be done—is so important in shoe factory, at the age of 15, our industry.” painting rubber boots.

OFF THE CUFF

14 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

Not too many companies can claim this past year was their best ever. What are you guys doing right?

You are absolutely correct in that it’s been an extremely tough year overall for the industry. But there are places where people are increasing their business and shining. For us, it’s about the product, first and foremost. We continue to make shoes that are different and interesting.

They feature tried-and-true construction techniques but applied in unique ways. And while I can’t speak about other brands our retailers carry, I can tell you that they have been doing very well with ours. In addition to making great shoes, we do a lot hand-in-hand work with our retail partners to try and ensure that we are both successful.

What is your favorite hometown memory?

It’s one year ago, when we cut the ribbon on our new offices in Burlington, Ontario. We finally stopped paying rent and moved into our own digs.

Does that work involve basics that others may not be willing or as capable of doing anymore?

Maybe that’s partly the case. We have a dedicated in-stock program, we offer an aggressive co-op advertising program, we do a great deal of traveling inseason holding trunk shows where we run Fly and Bos. & Co. days that include gift with purchases. If my brother is not at one of the stores every other weekend, then I’m there or one of our salespeople is. It’s a real effort on every-

TWO TEN

The May Event Call or email the USRA office for Membership info or a May Event package * i\Ê­n£n®ÊÇäÎ ÈäÈÓÊÊÊUÊ > \Ê `>J1-, i° À}ÊÊUÊÜÜÜ°ÕÃÀ> i° À}

O&A body’s part in our company to drive business in these stores. We also have a dedicated sales team that possesses a great deal of longevity at our company.

We don’t go through salespeople like white bread. We’ve had people who have been with us as long as 28 years and the most recent one has been here three years. Overall, it requires a lot of work, but it’s what needs to be done to be successful. For us, it’s just another wonderful day in the shoe business.

It requires hard work but it’s a labor of love, correct?

It does and it is. But I want to be clear in that we have to thank our retail partners for much of our success. Their loyalty is the reason we have been able to do well despite a difficult climate overall. We owe our clients a great deal, in this regard. Many have been with us for years, helping us build our business by carrying our brands.

What does this “difficult climate” reflect, because the amount of shoes sold overall has been relatively flat.

That’s true, and we check the paper every morning and see that people are still being born mostly with two feet, so that bodes well for our industry. [laughs] I also believe the retailers that have survived this culling well are pretty solid.

They are the ones that understand their markets and their places in them. Lots of people talk about how innovative Amazon is, and they are, but many small chain brick-and-mortar stores are savvy, too. While they’ll have to embrace e-commerce on some level going forward, I think what’s more important to their long-term survival is insuring their customer bases that they provide a true physical experience in the stores. They must tell a great story and inspire confidence with their customers. They must provide a reason to come into their stores. Those that are doing that are the ones shining right now.

Sounds straight forward enough, but when a customer partakes in wonderful in-store experience only to whip out a phone to find it for less…

You’re absolutely right, this happens a lot. For me, there are two solutions to that challenge: 1. The retailer needs to tie themselves to brands that will protect them. It starts with a MAP policy that is genuinely enforced. We go to great lengths to make our policy work, and we’ve been very successful— both our big and small retailers have benefitted. Now nine times out of 10 our retailers do the policing for us and contact us about someone being off policy, usually on one of the marketplace sites. We call and tell them about our MAP policy, that many other retailers are selling at the suggested price and making good margins and would they please change it to the suggested price. And nine times out of 10 the answer is along the lines of, “Oh, it was a technical glitch and we’ll change it right away.” We say thank you very much and it’s onto the next complaint.

What happens with that one other time?

We can’t find the guy. We’ll do all kinds of research trying to track him down, but it’s some guy located in Romania selling the shoes out of the back of his garage. Or it’s counterfeit goods or it’s a scam. That why the Internet today is a buyer beware market.

What is your other solution to combat showrooming?

Sometimes the retailer has to tell that customer that if he or she can buy that item elsewhere at a lower price, then go do it. But it isn’t always as dreamy as that offer may look. That $10 cheaper sometimes involves a shipment from overseas. It could be counterfeit. It could be all kinds of bad things. It also may not fit and then they have to deal with the hassle of a return. While you are

JOIN THE FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY’S

NATIONWIDE

VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT FOOTWEAR CARES 2017 IS A YEAR-ROUND CAMPAIGN

HERE’S WHAT WE ACCOMPLISHED TOGETHER IN APRIL 2017 1,930 VOLUNTEER HRS 1,275 PAIRS OF SHOES TO CHILDREN IN NEED 338,803 MEALS TO UNDERPRIVILEGED FAMILIES EMAIL MAUREEN RUBINO TO GET INVOLVED MRUBINO@TWOTEN.ORG

To that customer’s defense, if they can’t find the style, color, size in that store then they’re being forced to look elsewhere… I mean, it’s just not easy being a retailer these days when the consumer holds so much power.

It’s not easy at all. But this also falls back to what the brand provides to their retailers. For example, we have an extensive in-stock program where they can pick up the phone and order as few as one pair.

Are you confident brick-and-mortar will remain a viable format when it comes to shoes?

I truly believe that not everybody is going to buy shoes online. Everything that I’ve read tells me that, in terms of most retailers who offer both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar, their volume from the stores is still much higher than what’s being done on their website. Now who knows what may happen in the future, but I don’t think the death of brick-and-mortar is going to come overnight. If the current share of online sales is less than 25 percent, that means at least 75 percent is still being bought by touch and smell, right?

I get the value buying household items like cat litter, but when did shopping for shoes become such an unpleasant chore?

I agree 100 percent. I don’t need to get out of my chair to buy cat litter. But I do want to get out of my chair to go buy a shirt or a new pair of shoes. I want to touch and feel it first. It then becomes an experience. I can tell the types of retailers that we are working with, that’s what drives people into those stores— that experience. Beyond that, we are also strong supporters of many brick-and-

mortar stores because they’ve been loyal to us for years. We’ve built relationships with those people. They count on us and we can count on them. As long as we continue to deliver quality products on time, there’s no reason why they should turn their backs on us. We are not foolish. We know why we have the loyalty: because our shoes turn in the stores and that they are getting good margins.

As long as we continue to do that for them, they’ll continue to buy from us.

Unlike many industry members I’ve spoken with of late, you seem to be strongly optimistic about your business.

I’m very optimistic, as are my brother and father. We have great relationships with our retailers and within our team here. We are very happy with our business and the way it’s been growing. One of the good things about the shoe business is that we work in advance and I’m happy to report that our fall business is up. Now we are looking forward to spring and I’m very optimistic about the potential. Of course, a lot of this comes down to our retailer base, and I believe we are in the right places.

You don’t even need the excuse of a warm fall as to why boot sales were off?

We don’t need to use that one. When we went to sell boots for this fall, eight out of the 10 retailers we sold boots to last year told us the same story: “Listen, I had a terrible fall, but your boots were the first ones out the door.” You have to be willing to change and adapt your selection and understand what the needs are. Whether it be warm-, cool- or Arctic-line products, you have to adapt to what’s going in the weather.

I assume it’s a similar approach with regards to the athleisure craze?

Again, it’s about adapting your product mix to what’s in fashion. We >41

Tamaris USA INC. · 4767 New Broad Street, Orlando, FL 32814 · office (407) 514 2734 · theschuh@tamaris.us · tamaris.com

never going to stop showrooming 100 percent, I believe if you build a great experience in your store, you’ll have less and less of it.

IT’S ALL GOOD T h e f i f t h - a n n u a l Tw o Te n F o u n d a t i o n F o o t w e a r C a r e s event reached record levels of volunteerism and now shifts to a yearlong initiative. By Greg Dutter

HY STOP DOING charitable work after a day or A personal highlight for Newman was at the Footwear Cares event in early one month? Why not make volunteering a yearlong, April at the Massachusetts State House in Boston where seven companies industry-wide effort that becomes part of the collective (Wolverine Worldwide, BCNY, Clarks, Crocs, Khombu and New Balance) culture? When it comes to doing good, more is better. participated in the “Step Up for Kids” event with The Children’s Trust to That’s the consensus the Two Ten Footwear Foundation bring awareness of the issue of child abuse and neglect in the state. It was has taken with its Footwear Cares volunteerism initiative. For the past five exemplified through the display of 355 pairs of children’s shoes on the historic years, April (National Volunteer Month) has been designated Footwear Cares steps. “Each shoe represents the 710 reported incidents of neglect or abuse month where thousands of industry members participate in a broad range in the state per week,” Newman says. “This visual, along with the speakers of charitable initiatives aimed largely at helping children in need. Footwear and their personal stories, resonated, especially with our footwear donors Cares (sponsored by Footwear Plus, who have pledged their support to Amazon Fashion, Jones & Vining, help The Children’s Trust in their AAFA, FDRA, Kohl’s and Zappos) mission to reduce and eradicate has been a resounding success as this problem.” each year more industry members Newman also vividly recalls a have participated and more good brief conversation with a young deeds were done.

Seattle woman who was at Northwest “Now that Footwear Cares is a Harvest to pick up food for her family year-round volunteer campaign, during Footwear Cares event with we’ll have events spread out over members of Topline, Washington the next seven months which, in Shoe Co., Nordstrom, FDRA and total, will eclipse last year’s singleEarth Shoes. After Newman had month effort,” says Neal Newman, told her about the type of events that president of Two Ten. For those were taking place across the country, keeping score, Footwear Cares last she thanked him and remarked how year saw more than 7,000 individushe loves shoes but hasn’t been able als from 130 footwear companies to afford a new pair for a long time serve local non-profits in 24 states as since falling on hard times. Newman well as Puerto Rico, Canada, China says he was reminded how fragile life and Switzerland. This past April can be. “One life event can change Kicks for kids: 355 pairs displayed on the Massachusetts State House steps saw plenty more good work being everything, and that’s how important signified the state’s 710 incidents of child abuse or neglect reported each week. done as more than 50 companies Footwear Cares is,” he says. participated in 30 events across the country.

Newman is pleased to report that Footwear Cares’ year-round initiaThe highlights were numerous: Volunteers from Under Armour, Danner, tive to gather all industry charitable efforts under its umbrella is being FDRA, LaCrosse and Exclammability sorted 20,223 pounds of food at the met with enthusiasm. “Many companies have year-round corporate social Oregon Food Bank, which provided 16,853 meals for low-income families. responsibility [CSR] programs and our previous April-only focus didn’t Volunteers in Kansas from Payless ShoeSource helped organize and set always align with their schedule,” he explains. “By evolving Footwear Cares up a new thrift store with the Topeka Rescue Mission, which will provide into a 12-month campaign, we are able to support and integrate more clean, good condition clothing at low cost for underprivileged families. companies’ CSR initiatives and help elevate awareness of the hundreds of In Milwaukee, teams of volunteers from Kohl’s, Weyco Group, Bon-Ton, companies that are doing good in their communities.” It also enables Two Mojo Mony, Impo, Keds, Vida Brands and Reliable of Milwaukee packed Ten to engage more industry members who, in turn, will help more people 28 pallets of food “stock boxes,” the equivalent of 33,600 meals for lowin need. “It’s truly a win-win situation,” Newman says. income families and senior citizens. And at the Clark County Youth Center The plan going forward is to hold a couple of Footwear Cares group events in Indiana, a shelter that provides area youths with a safe alternative when each month in different cities while continuing to hold dozens of events in they have nowhere else to go, Shoe Sensation employees renovated the main April. “We want to continue to build upon all this goodwill and celebrate living area and reorganized the kitchen. our industry,” Newman says. Two Ten also plans to honor outstanding

18 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

volunteers—individuals and companies—at its annual VIP Dinner & Gala in New York this November as well as throughout the year in its social promotions, newsletters, on its website and in Footwear Plus. “We want to demonstrate how ‘footwear cares,’” Newman adds.

In that spirit, here are four profiles on how Wolverine Worldwide, Shoe Carnival, Skechers and Caleres gave back to their local communities via Footwear Cares in April.

WOLVERINE WORLDWIDE: Bigger, Broader, Better When it comes to Footwear Cares, Wolverine Worldwide has been all in since the beginning. Every year the Rockford, MI–based company’s goal has been to generate more good than the year before. Michael Bohnsack, director of community engagement, says it all starts by getting as many employees involved in its various charitable initiatives, and this April marked a record number at more than 3,500 participants spanning its three offices, six distribution centers, one call-in center and one factory.

“This year was the single-biggest event we have every done for Footwear Cares,” Bohnsack confirms, noting a highlight was the many people who usually don’t volunteer who did. “To see new, young employees be part of this giving back drive was reenergizing and rewarding,” he says.

Bohnsack credits the communication strategy—regular conference calls with the six distribution centers, for example—for helping drum up enthusiasm. In addition, he cites charitable efforts that benefitted people in local communities as being a major incentive for employees to get involved.

“The fact that our baby bundles and diaper challenge programs weren’t just corporate or national programs was huge,” he says. “We made it local and personal.” Distribution centers in Louisville, KY, Brookville, OH, Beaumont, CA, and Michigan’s Cedar Springs, Rockford and Howard City as well as the call-in center in Richmond, IN, all delivered their donated diapers to local shelters and agencies. Another factor contributing to Wolverine’s successful Footwear Cares effort this year involved making it a month-long initiative rather than the event-driven, one-day affairs of years past. “Changing the culture of what we had done before was key,” Bohnsack notes. “It built momentum and awareness.”

It all began when members of Wolverine’s Boston-area office joined Two Ten at the Footwear Cares kick-off event held at the Massachusetts State

Snack packers: Wolverine employees packed 1,700 snack at Kids Food Basket, a non-profit providing meals to children in need in the Grand Rapids, MI, area.

House. Meanwhile, employees in the distribution centers spent the month collecting diaper donations and those in the company’s Rockford and Boston-area offices busied themselves putting together baby bundles (ultimate baby shower packages) with the goal to surpass last year’s 120 that were collected.

“Children in need don’t have enough diapers, formula, Nice work: Children of Wolverine employees decorated baby bundle boxes. swaddles, bottles, pacifiers or books—the basic essentials,” Bohnsack explains, noting that one in five children in America live in an impoverished environment. “We went well over our baby bundles goal and we collected several thousand diapers.” Taking the effort a step further, the Rockford drive was tied to ‘take your kids to work’ day. Children decorated the boxes holding the baby bundles. “We were able to teach the 70-plus kids that came to work with us what giving back was all about,” Bohnsack says.

Last but surely not least, 16 Rockford employees spent a day at Kids Food Basket, a non-profit agency in Grand Rapids that provides about 7,500 meals daily to kids on federally funded meal plans in area schools. “We prepared 1,700 snacks in less than an hour-and-a-half,” Bohnsack reports.

“The camaraderie, the teamwork, the feeling of doing something good all made for a great day,” he adds.

Overall, Bohnsack describes Wolverine’s Footwear Cares efforts this year as a resounding success and, more importantly, it has become part of the corporate culture. “Two Ten through Footwear Cares has become a pillar of our charity-giving philosophy,” he says. “Their core values—kids, education, housing, helping those in need in local communities—line up with ours.”

To that end, Bohnsack says plans are already in the works—like partnering with Kids Food Bank on a quarterly basis—to make Footwear Cares a yearround effort. “We are making a difference in our own small way, and we are seeing great work being done,” he says, adding that the volunteers benefit as well. “These types of acts stay in your memory and make you want to do more,” he says. “Becoming more aware that we have these kinds of needs in our local communities is extremely important.”

Finally, Bohnsack believes Footwear Cares is a way to build company pride and work with fellow employees that one may not normally do. “We have 631 people in our Grand Rapids office spread out all over the place working on 10 brands, and they all came together on these projects,” he says. “It didn’t matter what brand you worked for or whether you were in finance, marketing or sales. We were all there to helping kids have a better way of life.” —G.D. SHOE CARNIVAL: Building Community Six years ago, Tom Vernarsky, DMM for Shoe Carnival, was listening to a presentation by Two Ten President Neal Newman about the importance of giving back to the local community. That’s when he decided he could do more and headed to the local Habitat for Humanity chapter to help build houses for people in need. A couple of years into what became a rewarding weekend volunteer gig, Vernarsky went to Shoe Carnival CEO Cliff Sifford with the idea that other employees might want to get involved. Specifically, that Shoe Carnival make a financial donation to the local Habitat for Humanity chapter and let employees work on the homes. Sifford was immediately on board.

2017 june • footwearplusmagazine.com 19

The first year saw about 35 employees volunteer, participating in teams of six to eight for one day a week over the course of the approximately five-month span to build a house from the ground up. Last year, the number jumped to 70. This year, Vernarsky reports, it should top out around 75 volunteers. To date, the employees have helped build 21 homes Hammer time: Shoe Carnival employees helping and are slated to build build an Indiana home with Habitat for Humanity.

10 more this year.

Vernarsky says a highlight has been getting to work alongside the future homeowners. “Last year we helped build a home for a single mother of teenage triplets who had been living in her sister’s basement for the past 15 months,” he says. “All of our volunteers walked away knowing that they helped put her family into a new home. The excitement on their faces made all the hard work worthwhile. It was a very rewarding experience.”

Tying what has become an annual effort to Footwear Cares was a no brainer, according to Vernarsky. The Evansville, IN–based chain has long been active in numerous charitable causes, including the Tri-State Food Bank, Ark Crisis Child Center, Youth First and Lacey’s Laces (benefitting Pediatric Cancer and Breast Cancer Awareness month) as well as is a big supporter of Two Ten. The fact that the homes are built over the course of months aligns perfectly with Two Ten making Footwear Cares a year-round initiative.

Vernarsky notes that the momentum has helped Shoe Carnival attract vendor partners to join the program. “Last year, Timberland Pro made a financial contribution and five of their employees helped work on a home for a day,” he says. This June, representatives from Wolverine and Cat are coming to work on a home and, in the fall, Weyco Group (Florsheim, Nunn Bush and Stacy Adams) is scheduled to send volunteers. Skechers is lined up for a home next year. “I had to really search to get my first vendor to participate, and now I’ve got several lined up,” Vernarsky says. A goal going forward is to get competing vendors to work on the same home. The ends justify the means, he says. “We all wear our Footwear Cares T-shirts, and seeing 20 of us building a house together is impressive,” he says. “It’s great to see everybody working toward one common goal.”

As for the work, Vernarsky says novices to skilled carpenters are welcome. Volunteers do everything, be it framing, siding, painting, installing plywood and insulation. “I sent six women to one site and the construction manager thought I was crazy, at first,” he recalls. “But the manager was really impressed—they were all pounding nails and one worked the reciprocating saw.” A bonus, Vernarsky says, is Shoe Carnival employees from across the company work together. “I overheard a lot of, ‘Oh, I’ve seen you in the breakroom but I didn’t know what area you worked in.’

Or, ‘I’m new and this has been a great chance to meet other people in the company,’” Vernarsky says, adding it’s been an amazing camaraderie builder.

“They’ve worked together in 95-degree heat and when it was 25 degrees, and no one complained,” he says. “Everyone was eager to help and all felt a sense of accomplishment knowing they helped people in need.” —G.D. SKECHERS: More Is More In the early days of Footwear Cares, Skechers SVP of Sales Rick Graham got a call from Two Ten asking the company to join the cause. Already

20 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

active in numerous charitable initiatives nationally and in its local Southern California community, Graham tasked Human Resources Manager Melissa McKay with the job of tying some of these efforts to Footwear Cares. “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” McKay says. “We took conference calls with other businesses in SoCal and planned our first volunteer trip to the Los Angeles Food Bank about four years ago.” It was a big success and the company has been an active participant ever since.

Skechers has since partnered with Footwear Cares to conduct many volunteer days, always addressing the unique (but positive) challenge of accommodating a large amount of participants. “We need a place that can hold 50 to 100 volunteers,” McKay says. But where there’s a will, there’s a way. This year, for example, Skechers teamed with New Balance and Gee Wawa to volunteer at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank’s warehouse.

Conference calls started about eight weeks in advance to iron out the details.

When the big day arrived, McKay coordinated icebreakers on the bus, as many of the volunteers from Skechers’ five campuses didn’t know one another. “We had some who just moved to California along with recruiters responsible for hiring them,” she notes, adding that one of the greatest takeaways from the day was the teamwork that allowed the volunteers to pack an impressive 1,600 meals for the elderly. “Knowing the food we packed was going to someone’s house who is low income or immobile was so fulfilling,” McKay says, noting that the volunteers acted as a welloiled assembly line with Meal makers: Skechers employees some delegated to making packed 1,600 meals for the elderly at the boxes while others sorted Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. and placed items. “The teamwork of how Skechers operates on a daily basis was fully present,” she adds. “We became the Footwear Cares team. They had to tell us to stop because there was another volunteer group coming in!”

McKay says Skechers hosts a range of volunteer opportunities throughout the year—events she’s eager to link with Two Ten’s yearlong Footwear Cares initiative. “They’ll get to see what we do all year,” she says. Examples include volunteering at The Compton Initiative four times a year, an effort that helps paint community buildings, houses and schools. Skechers employees also visit a local children’s hospital every Thanksgiving to help provide meals and entertainment to families, donate clothes to 1736 Family Crisis Center for victims of domestic violence, conduct a holiday food drive for Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, hold the annual Pier To Pier walk benefitting children with disabilities, conduct blood drives for Red Cross and the UCLA hospital, donate to Autism Speaks…the list goes on.

McKay plans to circle those efforts back to Two Ten by sharing photos and encouraging volunteers to use the Footwear Cares hashtag on social media. She believes the cross promotion is a no-brainer and that Footwear Cares offers a unique form of volunteering. “It doesn’t have to be in the form of donating shoes or money,” she says. “This is a way to help make people happy and provided for on a personal level.” —Ann Loynd CALERES: A Team Effort Caleres has been an active participant with Footwear Cares since its inception in 2013, having rounded up an impressive number of volunteers across its portfolio of wholesale brands (includes Naturalizer, Dr. Scholl’s, Sam Edelman and Allen Edmonds) and from its Famous Footwear retail division. Efforts have spanned volunteer days working with community >41

A walk on the wild side.

Come stalk the latest trends.

AUGUST 1 - 3 NEW YORK HILTON MIDTOWN & MEMBER SHOWROOMS OPEN ALL WEEK

LEARN ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF FFANY MEMBERSHIP: VISIT FFANY.ORG/JOIN

FFANY SHOES ON SALE GALA 2017 OCTOBER 10

#SHOES4ACURE

INFO & HOTEL RATES FFANY.ORG @FFANYSHOESHOW FUTURE SHOW DATES: NOV 29!DEC 1

Queen Bee E l i z a b e t h To d d , o w n e r o f T h e S h o e H i v e , g e n e r a t e s a s t e a d y buzz thanks to her sharp eye for spotting the latest trends that keep a swarm of customers returning time and again.

B Y E M I LY B E C K M A N

FTER SPENDING ning Kate Spade and Diane von Furstenberg THE first part of her to Dolce Vita and Sam Edelman, along with career as a copywriter bags and jewelry (Tory Burch, Twine & Twig helping elected officials and Mignonne Gavigan) and clothing (Rag “brag about their sup& Bone, Tibi and Citizens of Humanity), The port for entrepreneurs,” Shoe Hive is a destination for the latest trends.

Elizabeth Todd decided it was time to live But unlike a lot of boutiques, the store exudes her dream and hang her own shingle. “I a welcoming, casual vibe. The Shoe Hive is wanted to get off the printed page and do it not snooty, stuffy or exclusive. “I want the myself,” she says. Fusing her entrepreneurial store to have a homey feel,” Todd says, noting spirit and passion for fashion, Todd decided the plush carpet and comfy chairs. She even a trendy shoe boutique was the way to go. has a few toys on hand for little ones to play In the fall of 2003, she opened The Shoe with while Mom shops. “I want it to almost Hive, in the Old Town neighborhood of feel like a family room,” she adds.

Alexandria, VA. The business has been When asked what makes The Shoe Hive buzz-worthy ever since. stand out from other boutiques, Todd is quick Originally located in a quaint 500-squareto cite its customer service. “We are kind of foot space, the boutique found a home like a bar,” she says. “People come in, they and following in the historic district only know us and they want to chitchat—it’s a minutes away from Washington D.C. on really friendly environment.” The same goes the Potomac River. The charming town, for the interactions among employees, who founded in 1749, brims with character often do charity runs together and have dinfrom cobblestone streets and red brick ner after work. “I just went to the wedding of sidewalks to cheery storefronts and busmy first hourly employee a few weeks ago,” tling pedestrians—the perfect opportunity Todd says. “The relationships and friendships for a new business to grow on foot traffic of everyone who works here just makes me alone. The Shoe Hive has done that and Elizabeth Todd, owner of The Shoe Hive, in charming Alexandria. so happy.” more, moving down the block in 2009 to a new location triple the size of the original to meet growing demand. In A SWEET SELECTION addition, a second boutique, The Hive, opened last fall to accommodate Friendly service is one aspect, but Todd knows The Shoe Hive’s killer the original store’s popular clothing business, sited in the same shopping selection is what keeps the store buzzing with customers each season. area. “It’s been doing great,” Todd says. “I’ve been really pleased with For Todd, buying is simplified into two categories: “OMG, I can’t live sales at both locations.” without this!” and “I’ll wear that every day!” It’s one of the reasons why Stocked with a balance of both well-known and niche brands spanthe store’s price range is broad, spanning $50 Tory Burch flip-flops to

22 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

$495 wedges by Aquatalia. Todd aims as we’re always trying to keep track of to please her diverse clientele for whatour customers and make sure we get ever their footwear needs and desires what they’re looking for,” she says. Todd may be. Holding to a specific price tier has also launched a blog, “A Walk in only narrows that opportunity down.

My Shoes,” as another affordable way “We are one of the few places left that to continue the conversation with her attract professional women in suits customers. “We always had people looking for chic footwear just as often coming in asking, ‘How do I wear this?’ as stay-at-home moms who want cute so we decided to create a blog that and comfy slip-on sneakers,” she says. focuses on incorporating trends into When it comes to picking vendors, your wardrobe,” she explains, pointing Todd looks for brands (people, really) out how the blog gives tons of helpful that she can build an easy relationship fashion hints while also featuring new with. “If they start throwing out crazy products. Over the last two years, Todd high minimums or seem to be making has made the blog more of a priority, the buy difficult, I know it’s not going being extra diligent about updating to work out in the long run,” she says. it on a regular basis. “It’s really an Each season, the owner makes her inspiring and connective tool for our buys between the FFANY customers,” she says. and Coterie shows. “I often Ever since Todd opened get help from my daughter, the doors to The Shoe Hive who comes to market with she has emanated an “all for me every December,” Todd one, one for all” approach says. “She’s my assistant to pleasing her customers buyer.” and meeting their needs.

For this fall, Todd is focusPart of that effort even ing on the all-consuming involves helping them sneaker trend. The athdiscover other boutiques in leisure movement shows the neighborhood. Todd, in no signs of running out of this regard, was shocked to steam. “It’s still sneakers, discover that some of her sneakers, sneakers,” she says, best fashionista customadding, “The best part is ers had no clue about the people have finally embraced brilliant makeup boutique wearing them with a skirt or located up the street. “I dress.” Todd invests deeply found out that people in that category knowing knew their spots but didn’t that everyone is looking for really go beyond that,” she comfort, and she considers says. “I wanted a way to the slip-on sneaker the put [the boutiques] all Inside The Shoe Hive: a curated mix of trend-right and dress styles for women. perfect balance of cute and under one roof.” A firm comfortable. Her current offering includes an avocado embroidered verbeliever in the strength in numbers concept, she cofounded the Old Town sion by Soludos ($89) up to an AGL platform version featuring a cascade Boutique District several years back to collectively promote the area. “We of laser-cut and hand-stitched leather sequins on the vamp ($375). Todd received some money from the city through the Alexandria Marketing predicts under-the-knee boots will also be trending this fall. “It has been Fund,” she says, noting, “Our goal was to bring more tax revenue to the over-the-knee or booties for a while now, but I think we are starting to city.” Originally, association members paid monthly dues that the city see things shift back to the riding boot,” she says. then matched. And while the city’s support has come to an end, the When it comes to the art of the buy, above all Todd recommends going Old Town Boutique District still exists, funded solely by sponsors. The with your heart—but always going back to edit with your head. “The efforts, Todd proudly reports, have paid off. The shopping district has number-one thing I try to avoid is overbuying,” she says. Of course, it blossomed and is now home to more than 200 independent restaurants happens… “Sometimes I’m like, ‘Oh shoot, did I really need five pointyand boutiques alongside historic museums and various excursions along toe, chunky heel pumps in nude?’” the waterfront. “Water makes all ships rise,” Todd says, sharing her firm belief that it’s better to work together rather than strictly be competitors.

VIRTUAL BUZZ “We need more people to have reason to come to Old Town—the more Quite savvy when it comes to using the Internet to promote her business, small businesses the better!” She adds, “I believe I have a great store, but Todd cites Instagram and Facebook as effective ways to generate hype and I’m not good enough for people to fight traffic to just come to my store. I draw customers into The Shoe Hive. For those not social media inclined, need them to know that they can get everything they need—gifts, home Todd shoots them an email or even gives a call when items come in that supplies, makeup, etc.—all in one place.” she believes that customer will like. “We do a lot of one-on-one marketing, The sense of community is palpable through the annual events >43

2017 june • footwearplusmagazine.com 23

A N OT E T O M Y Y OU N G E R S E L F

GIVING THANKS Gary Hauss, the self-proclaimed Godfather of Shoes a n d o w n e r o f t h e J. S t e p h e n s c h a i n , r e c o g n i z e s t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f t e n a c i t y, l o y a l t y a n d , m o s t o f a l l , f a m i l y.

H E Y B U D DY , When looking back at my life, I feel the need more people who matter in life: mentors, friends, best friends and even to stop and thank you, my younger self. Thank you for having tenacity. your brother. I strive daily to make them proud and carry on for them.

You were never afraid to ask questions. Sometimes you thought you Thank you for being obsessed with the Mob. Ok, not everything about were too stupid to know you shouldn’t ask, so you asked anyway. Now them, but definitely the admirable parts: family, loyalty and keeping your I know there are no stupid questions, so even if you think it’s a stupid word. I like to think that I’m the Godfather of Shoes. Family is everything. question…ask anyway!

I am loyal to family, friends and business partners. I do everything I can Thank you for stressing and worrying about everything. It’s made me for them. If they ask for help, I’m there for them. Often, I don’t even wait get creative. It’s made me think outside the box. It’s made me realize for them to ask; I just jump in and see how I can help. I am equally loyal that I CAN DO IT. There are no obstacles that to this industry and work tirelessly to find ways will stop me. I just need to find a way around to make sure it stays around for many, many them. It’s made me realize that I am smarter years. In this regard, it has taken me a long than I thought. I now have confidence that I time to get on the digital bandwagon. I still miss will always do my best to come out on top. I’ll those Acme books, but I realize I don’t have to never give up. Sometimes things will turn out be overwhelmed by technology. I just needed to even better than expected. You also made me accept that it’s not my thing, find someone who realize I am not in this alone. There are friends loves it and hire them to do the job. in this industry who want to help and will step Thank you for developing that incredible in when necessary. relationship with our father, Dalty. I’ve had a few Thank you for finding ways to keep your pasmentors in this industry, people who have had lastsion for this industry alive. ing effects on me and my way of doing business.

I remember when you began this journey—after But my biggest influence has been Dalty. He is cutting your long hair. It was just a job then. But the best person I know and the one who I strive the more you delved in, the more it excited you. to emulate. He is the person who has influenced The more you made connections, the more you me the most and who I look up to more than felt connected. The relationships you’ve made anyone else. Remember when he grew a beard in this industry are incomparable. Today most (you were a long-haired teenager), hoping you’d of my closest friends are shoe people. They are relate better to him? He’s still that guy! The guy the people I talk to daily and feel comfortable who will do anything for his family.

Service with a smile: Gary Hauss in his element on the fitting stool back in the day. with. They know my successes and my failures.

Even after having such an amazing role model, The more we share, the better we both are. I’ve I never thought I’d be a good father. But having even helped create the May Event, which brings the entire industry watched my five children grow into beautiful, responsible adults, some of together. It’s designed to help people make the connections and develop whom are already starting families of their own, I realize I must’ve done the relationships that are imperative in keeping our industry alive. I something right. Each is unique and special in their own way. They’ve cannot imagine doing anything else. given me more joy than they will ever know. Being “Papa” is my greatest Thank you for caring so much. I’ve learned that it’s ok to care a lot accomplishment and something that melts my heart on a daily basis. and that even when you lose people you love, you can go on. You think Mostly, thank you for being you. Even though some people might not you can’t, but you find the strength to move forward. Not sure where it like it, I have come to realize it doesn’t matter what other people think. comes from, but it’s there. Losing Mom, Shirley, at the age of 24, was I will always be myself. I will say what’s on my mind and share my opinoverwhelming but made you stronger. I still miss her every day and try ion—four-letter words and all. It’s who I am. It’s what makes me “me.” to make her proud in everything I do. Over the years, you will lose many And if someone doesn’t like it, I don’t really give a sh@#.

24 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

EMENTS ADVENTURE MEDICAL KITS AETREX WORLDWIDE AFTCO CLOTHING AFTERSHOKZ AGS BRANDS AHM CLIMBING AIRE, INC. AIRHEADSUP - SPORTSSTUFF - DRY PAK (KWIK TEK) ALADDIN, A BRAND OF P LCHEMI LABS ALEGRIA SHOES ALITE DESIGNS ALL GOOD ALLETT ALLIED FEATHER & DOWN ALOE UP ALPINE INNOVATIONS ALPS MOUNTAINEERING ALTERNATIVE APPAREL ALTRA FOOTWEAR ALUMINATI BOAR MATERRACE INC. AMERICAN ALPINE CLUB AMERICAN BACKCOUNTRY AMERICAN CAMP ASS/NP AMERICAN DEL ADVANTAGE AMERICAN EXPRESS OPEN AMERICAN HIKING SOCIETY AMERICAN JEWEL, LLC AMERIC RAIL RUNNING ASSOCIATION AMFIT, INC. ANITA ACTIVE ANJI INTERNATIONAL ANOVOTEK LLC AO COOLERS APARSO (FUJIAN) SPORTSWEAR CO., LTD. APPAREL STRATEGIC ALLIANCES, LLC AQUA LILY PRODUCTS, L QUA SPHERE AQUAMIRA AND GEIGERRIG ARCADE BELT CO. ARIAT INTERNATIONAL ASANA CLIMBING ASF GROUP ASOLO ASSOCIATION OF OUTDOOR RECREATION & EDUCATION ASTRAL ATHLETIC EVENT SUPP USTRIALPIN AVENTURA & ECOTHS AXIS GO B4ADVENTURE – SLACKERS BACKPACKER MAGAZINE BACKPACKER'S PANTRY BAFFIN INC. BAGGALLINI BALLUCK OUTDOOR GEAR CORP. BAMBU BAR MITTS BAREBON VING BE HIPPY BEAR BUTT BEARPAW BELLMART INDUSTRIAL CO (GREAT KING GROUP) BENCHMADE KNIFE COMPANY BERNE APPAREL COMPANY BERTUCCI WATCHES BEST PACIFIC TEXTILE (HONG KONG) L ESTRIDENT, LTD. BESTWAY USA INC. BEYOND CLOTHING BIC SPORT BIG AGNES BIG HAIRY DOG INFORMATION SYSTEMS-RETAIL PRO BIG JOE BIG KAT BUGGY BIG SKY INTERNATIONAL BIMINI BAY OUTFITTERS BIOLI RKENSTOCK USA BISON COOLERS BISON DESIGNS, LLC BIXPY, LLC BLACK DIAMOND EQUIPMENT BLACKFIRE BLACKWING BLOQUV BLOWFISH MALIBU BLUE FREEDOM BLUE ICE NORTH AMERICA BLUE RIDGE CHA ORKS BLUE RIDGE KNIVES BLUESIGN TECHNOLOGIES AG BLUEWATER ROPES BLUPRINT BNY GLV BOA TECHNOLOGY BODY GLIDE BODY GLOVE BOKER USA BOLERO CA BONAFIDE KAYAKS BONDI BAND BOOGIE BOA WRITERS BOREAL USA BORN SHOES BOSTON LEATHER BOTE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA BRAINSTORM PRODUCTS BRAVEN AUDIO BREWER'S LANTERN BRIDGFORD READY TO EAT SANDWICHES BRIGHTZ, LTD. BRON N JEWELRY BROOKS RANGE MOUNTAINEERING BROOKWOOD COMPANIES, INC. BROWNING CAMPING BRUNTON BUCK KNIVES BUCKLEGEAR BUFF, INC. BUG BAFFLER BUG PROTECTOR BUGBAND, A DIVISION OF E C. BULLFROG SUNSCREEN BURLINGTON BURLINGTON BUSHNELL/BOLLE'/JIMMY STYKS BUSHTEC ADVENTURE BUTORA, INC CABANA LIFE CACHE LAKE CAMPING FOODS CALAMAI BY ANIFICIO BECAGLI SRL CAME AK PRODUCTS CAMP CHEF CAMP USA INC. CAMPMAID CANADA GOOSE CANYON COOLERS CAPTURE THE FLAG REDUX CARABINERS IND. CO., LTD. CARAVAN GLOBAL CARHARTT CARIBEE AUSTRALIA CAROL TEXTI O., LTD. CARR TEXTILE CARVE DESIGNS CARVICO S.P.A. CASCADE DESIGNS, INC. CASIO CAT APPAREL CAT FOOTWEAR CATARACT OARS CBF LABELS, INC. CEDAR RAVINE CELLIANT CENTRIC SOFTWARE CENTU AMPING/KAY HOME PRODUCTS CEP COMPRESSION CGEAR SAND FREE CHACO CHAINLON ALLIANCE CHAMOIS BUTT'R GOSTIK CHAOS / CTR HEADWEAR AND ACCESSORIES CHARMING FABRICS CHEMOURS CHIA H DUSTRIAL CO., LTD CHICOBAG AND TO-GO WARE CHIEN SHENG MACHINE IND. CO., LTD. CHINA-QIAOYU CHIPPENHOOK- VASSI DESIGN GROUP CHUMS-BEYOND COASTAL CIEC OVERSEAS EXHIBITION CO., LTD. CIRQ OUNTAIN APPAREL CLEANWASTE CLIF BAR & CO. CO & GI, INC. COAL HEADWEAR COALATREE, LLC COAST PRODUCTS COBIAN CORP. COBRA / WASPCAM COCAM INT'L ENTERPRISES, LTD. COCOON BY DESIGN SA OGHLAN'S COGNITO BRANDS, INC. COLEMAN COMPANY COLUMBIA COMPASS 360 CONCEPT III TEXTILES CONE DENIM CONNER HATS COOL & DRY COOLERS COOLBAG COOLIBAR COOLVISIONS® DYEABLE POLYPR YLENE BY FIBERVISIONS CORDURA ® FABRICS CORKCICLE CORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY COSTA SUNGLASSES COTOPAXI COTTON INCORPORATED COUNTER ASSAULT BEAR AND PEPPER SPRAY COVA COVIL OYOTE EYEWEAR USA CRAGHOPPERS CRAZY CREEK PRODUCTS CREATIVE OUTDOOR DISTRIBUTOR CREEKKOOLER FLOATING COOLER CRITEO CRKT CROAKIES CROCS CROSS LAND OUTDOOR CROWN TRAI EADWEAR CSK ZIPPER CUSA TEA CUTTER DNA TICK TEST CWR WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTION CYBERKNIT DAC DAKINE DAKOTA GRIZZLY DAKOTA WATCH COMPANY DALIAN EAGLESIGHT CORPORATION LIMIT ANAQUE DANNER DANSKO LLC DARN TOUGH VERMONT DATUM DEEPER, UAB DEER CREEK FABRICS, INC. DEL RAY INTERNATIONAL DERA INDUSTRIES DESIGNER TEXTILES INTERNATIONAL LTD DEUTER USA, IN HARMA BARS - FOOD WITH PURPOSE DICKIES DINGHUI & SOLAR CAMP DINGZING ADVANCED MATERIALS INC. DISC-O-BED RETAIL, INC. DISCRAFT DISC SPORTS DM FULFILLMENT DOCK BLOCKS OF NORTH AMERI OMETIC DONGGUAN CHENGCHENG CAPS AND BAGS DOUGHNUT DOUGHNUT BAGS DOWN RIVER EQUIPMENT DOWNLITE DRINKTANKS DRIRELEASE/OPTIMER BRANDS DRYMAX DUCKWORTH DUER DULUTH PA UPONT SORONA DURAFLEX DURANGO DOG COMPANY DYNAMIC DISCS DYNEEMA E.DYE E9 URBAN AND CLIMBING EAGLE CREEK EARTH SHOES EARTHEASY, INC. EASTERN WARMTH INC EASTMAN PERFORMAN BERS ECCO ECLAT TEXTILE CO. LTD ECOVESSEL ECOXGEAR EDELRID NORTH AMERICA EK USA ELASTITAG® - BEDFORD INDUSTRIES EMERALD RESERVED EMERSON KNIVES, INC ENDURANCE CONSPIRACY ENERGIZ NO ENTH DEGREE EPIC PROVISIONS EPO TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. EQUIP ERICTEX FASHION CO, LTD. ESSENTIAL WIPE ESTWING MFG. CO. EULER HERMES EUREKA! CAMPING / JETBOIL EUSEBIO SPORTING CO., LTD. EVE BRICS EVEREST TEXTILE CO., LTD. EVOLV SPORTS AND DESIGNS EXCALIBUR DMM EXOFFICIO EXOTAC EXPED EXPERT BRAND EXPLORE SCIENTIFIC FAHERTY FALCON FARM TO FEET FEETURES! FENG YI FENIX LIGHTIN S FIBER & YARN PRODUCTS, INC. FIDLOCK GMBH FILSON FIREBUGGZ FIRST FLIGHT SOLUTIONS FISHER + BAKER FITLETIC SPORTS FITS FIVE TEN FJALLRAVEN FLAT SEAM APPAREL LIMITED FLEXFIT FLIPBELT FLOPEE TERNATIONAL USA INC. FLOWERHOUSE FLOWFOLD FLYING TEX FLYLOW GEAR FORMEX MANUFACTURING, INC. "UNCHARTED WATERCRAFT" FORMOSA TAFFETA CO. FORSAKE INCFOSHAN LEOPARD SPORTS GOO O., LTD. FOX 40 USA FOX RIVER MILLS FRAMIS ITALIA SPA FREE COUNTRY FREUDENBERG PERFORMANCE MATERIALS FRICTIONLABS FROGG TOGGS FROST RIVER FULL WINDSOR FUSION CLOTHING FUSIO NTERTAINMENT FUTURE BEACH LEISURE PRODUCTS GARMIN USA GATEWAY TRADE FUNDING GATOR SPORTS GATORADE ENDURANCE GB LIGHT CO.,LTD GCI OUTDOOR GEAR AID GEARHALO GECKOBRANDS GENER ENERAL MACHINERY & SERVICES, LLC GERBER GEAR GERTEX USA GIANT KNITTING CO., LTD GLACIER GLOVE GLERUPS GLOBAL MERINO GLOBALSTAR/ SPOT LLC GOAL ZERO GOBI GEAR INC GOMACRO GOMOTIO OOD TO-GO GOPRO, INC. GORILLY GOODS GOTENNA, INC. GRABBER INC./ KOBAYASHI.INC. GRAMICCI GRAND INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION CO., LTD.GRAND TEXTILE CO., LTD. GRAND TRUNK GRANDETEX DEVELOPME O., LTD. GRANITE GEAR LLC. GRASSROOTS OUTDOOR ALLIANCE GREAT OUTDOORS USA GREEN GOO BY SIERRA SAGE GREENLAND SALES CORPORATION GREGORY MOUNTAIN PRODUCTS GRIP PRO TRAINER GR OCKS GRIP6 BELT COMPANY GRIZZLY COOLERS GROOVE LIFE GRYPHON ELECTRONICS CORP. GSD(HK) TRADING & SERVICE LIMITED GSI OUTDOORS,INC. GUANGZHOU JOYORD SPORTSWEAR CO.,LTD GUARD DO CURITY H2X BY BOELTER BRANDS HAFLINGER HAIKU HAMMOCK BLISS HANDY MAN ENTERPRISE CO., LTD. HANG TEN HEADWEAR AND ACCESSORIES / OTTOHANS GLOBAL / PACIFIC FLY HANZ EXTREMITY WEAR HA ARI HARMAN INTERNATIONAL HAWAII PAVILION HEAD WATER SPORTS HEADS UP USA, LLC HEADSWEATS HEAT FACTORY USA HELLY HANSEN HEMP FORTEX INDUSTRIES, LTD. HENGTONG INTERNATIONAL, IN ENNESSY HAMMOCK HEROCLIP HERSCHEL SUPPLY COMPANY HI-TEC SPORTS HICKORY BRANDS, INC. HIGH SIERRA HIGH WIND PRODUCTIONS HILLEBERG THE TENTMAKER HIPPYTREE HJLITE HO YU TEXTILE CO., L OBIE HOG WILD HOHENSTEIN INSTITUTE HOME STATE APPAREL HONEY STINGER HONHAO TECHTEXTILE HOOK & TACKLE HOSPITALITY GROUP HOVER-1 HOWLER BROTHERS HSD ZIPPER LIMITED HSIN LUN CCESSORIES CO., LTD. HUNG`S FORTUNE INT'L CO., LTD. HURLEY HYBRIDLIGHT LLC HYDRAKNIGHT INNOVATION CO., LTD HYDRAPAK HYDRO FLASK HYOSUNG CORPORATION HYPERBOLA TEXTILE CO., LTD. IB UTDOOR CLOTHING ICE AGE TRAIL ALLIANCE ICEBREAKER ICEMULE COOLERS ICON LIFESAVER IDEAL FASTENER CORPORATION IFABRIX TAIWAN CO., LTD. IMPLUS, LLC INDOSOLE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION INFU YDRATION INGRAM CONTENT GROUP/PGW/ADVENTURE KEEN INJINJI, INC INNOVA DISC GOLF INSIDE OUTDOOR MAGAZINE INSOTECT LTD. INTERNATIONAL E-Z UP, INC. INTERSPORT CORP DBA WHAM-O INT ECREATION CORP. IOWA SMOKEHOUSE ITASCA FOOTWEAR BY C.O. LYNCH ITW NEXUS J.R. LIGGETT'S JACK MASON JACK WOLFSKIN JACKERY INC. JACKSON KAYAK JAMBU & CO. JAMES BAROUD USA JANA JANSPO SON INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION CO., LTD. JELLY BELLY - SPORTS BEANS JETFLOW / LEDGE JIANGSU ACOME OUTDOOR PRODUCTS CO., LTD. JIANGSU APE SPORTING GOODS CO., LTD JIANGSU HONGDA LAT RODUCTS CO., LTD. JIAXING DREAM MAY IMP & EXP JIEDENG OUTDOOR PRODUCTS CO., LTD. JML JOBE SPORTS INTERNATIONAL JOHNSON OUTDOORS WATERCRAFT INC. JOSHUA TREE PRODUCTS JOULES JR GEAR J EFLEX K & K CLOTHING ACCESSORIES CO. LTD. K3 WATERPROOF GEAR KAENON KAKADU TRADERS AUSTRALIA INC. KALA BRAND MUSIC CO. KAMIK KAMP-RITE TENT COT INC. KANKAKEE SPIKEBALL INC. KARI TR ATADYN NORTH AMERICA KAVU, INC. KAYAK DISTRIBUTION KEEN, INC. KEEPER SPORTS PRODUCTS, LLC KELTY KENTEX CORP KENYON CONSUMER PRODUCTS KERSHAW KNIVES - ZERO TOLERANCE KEYSMA HANGRI SOURCING KHOMBU KICKER KIJARO KIKKERLAND DESIGN KILLTEC NA, INC. KING SNAPS IND CORP KINGCAMP KISS MY FACE, LLCKL OUTDOOR KLEAN KANTEEN KLECKER KNIVES AND TOOLA KLEMEN AUSAGE COMPANY KLINGLER ASIA LTD KLYMIT KNOW BRAINER FOODS KODIAK LIFESTYLE FOOTWEAR / DICKIES CASUAL FOOTWEAR KOGALLA KOIA KOKATAT KOLON FASHION MATERIAL, INC KOLPING MANUFACTU G KOMPERDELL SPORTARTIKEL GMBH KOOLGATOR, LLC KOREA KSPO PAVILION KOWA AMERICAN CORPORATION KRIEG CLIMBING KUHL CLOTHING KUJU COFFEE KYBOE! L&C GLOBAL CORPORATION LA CROS CHNOLOGY, LTD. LA FORMA LA SPORTIVA N.A., INC LABTEX CO., LTD. LAKEN LALO LAMO SHEEPSKIN INC. LAMZAC LAST BOTTLE CLOTHING LEATHER MAN LTD. AND ELIZA B. LEATHERMAN TOOL GROUP LEAVE N RACE CENTER FOR OUTDOOR ETHICS LEKI USA LEVEL SIX LEWIS N. CLARK LIBERTY MOUNTAIN LIFEFACTORY LIFELINE FIRST AID, LLC LIFESTRAW LIFETIME PRODUCTS, INC. LIGHTNIN' FLAME FIRESTARTER LI OLLECTIONS - LEATHER GOODS OF SPAIN LIQUID HARDWARE LIVE EYEWEAR, INC. LIVE FIRE GEAR, LLC LIVE THE LIFE YOU LOVE LOCATION&DISCOVERY LOCKRACK LODGE MANUFACTURING COMPANY LOKSAK IN ONG ADVANCE INT'L CO., LTD. LORPEN NORTH AMERICA LOWA BOOTS LLC LUMINAID LUNA PACKAGING LLC LUNA SANDALS LUNATEC GEAR M. RENA MAC SPORTS MAD ROCK CLIMBING MAGFORCE INTERNATION C MAIN STREET HUB MALIBU KAYAKS MALOJA MALONE AUTO RACKS MAMMUT MANHATTAN PORTAGE & TOKEN BAGS MANNA MARMOT MASTER TEXTILE MILLS MASTERFIT ENTERPRISES MASTERS SRL MATAD AXIM ROPES MAXLAND SPORTSWEAR INDUSTRIAL CO.,LTD. MAXMIND INC MEDICINE WERX MERIDIAN LINE MERRELL MESSAGE FACTORY MICROBAN INTERNATIONAL MIDLAND RADIO CORPORATION MIGHTY ORGA MILCO INDUSTRIES MILKMAN MILK MINNETONKA MOCCASIN MINUS33 MERINO WOOL CLOTHING MISSION MISSION BELT MISTY MOUNTAIN MIZU MIZZEN + MAIN MOKUYOBI MOLLUSK MOMENTUM WATCHES MO EAK IX MONTEREY MILLS MOUNTAIN DESIGNS MOUNTAIN HARDWEAR MOUNTAIN HOUSE MOUNTAIN KHAKIS MOUNTAINEERS BOOK MOUNTAINSMITH MPOWERD, INC. MTI ADVENTUREWEAR MUCK BOOT COMPA LIVER MUELLER SPORTS MEDICINE MULITIA MY COMFY SOCKS MYCHARGE MYSTERY RANCH MΫLIBEX NALGENE CONSUMER PRODUCTS NANGA / NATAL DESIGN NANUK BY PLASTICASE INC NATIONAL GEOGRAPH APS NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION NATIVE SHOES NATURE CAST METALWORKS NATURE NATE'S NATURE'S COFFEE KETTLE NATURE'S WONDER / D&V NAU NA XTILE NEMO EQUIPMENT NERO NETGEAR NEW BDNY INTERNATIONAL TRADING INC. NEW MEXICO PARTNERSHIP NEW TREND TEXTILE CO., LTD NEXTORCH INDUSTRIES CO., LTD. NIFCO AMERICA CORP. NIKW ORTH AMERICA, INC NILIT NINGBO HIQIANG BOAT FACILITY MANUFACTURING CO.,LTD NINGBO HOPFUNG LEISURE PRODUCTS CO.,LTD. NITE IZE, INC. NITECORE FLASHLIGHT NOREAST OUTDOORZ NORMAL BRAND, L ORTH CAROLINA NORTHSIDE NORTO POINT NRIT CORPORATION NRS NTK OUTDOOR NUUN & COMPANY NUWA INC. O LOVES M ECO BAGS O'NEILL WETSUITS O2COOL, LLC OBOZ FOOTWEAR OFF GRID TOOLS O TERNATIONAL OLD DOMINION FREIGHT LINE, INC. OLD FAITHFUL FLAMELESS OLIVET INTERNATIONAL, INC. OLLYDOG, INC OLYMPIA USA OMEALS ONE WARM COAT ONOS POLARIZED SUNGLASSES ONYX OOF PINEL USA, INC. OPR OPTIC NERVE ORGY CO., LTD. ORIENTAL RECREATIONAL PRODUCTS (SHANGHAI) CO., LTD ORTERY TECHNOLOGIES ORTIEB USA ORU KAYAK, INC. OS1ST BASE LAYER BRACING OSAGE RIVER GE SKY INTERNATIONAL INC. OSPREYPACKS OTBT OTTER PRODUCTS OTTERBOX OTTO DESIGNWORKS OUTDOOR COLLECTIVE OUTDOOR EDGE CUTLERY CORP.OUTDOOR INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OUTDOOR PRODUC UTDOOR RESEARCH OUTDOOR SPORTS INSURANCE OUTDOOR TECH OUTPOST TITANIUM OZWEST / 3D FINS P&W NEW YORK PACIFIC CREST TRAIL ASSOCIATION PACIFIC MOUNTAIN PACIFIC TEAZE, INC. PACIF RADING INC. PACIFIC TRAIL PACSAFE PAHA QUE PALTEX COMPANY LTD. PANASONIC ENERGY CORP OF AMERICA PANTROPIC BOLLMAN HAT CO. PARA'KITO USA CORP PARKS PROJECT PAYEN – ESF PELAGIC PELIC TERNATIONAL PELICAN PRODUCTS PENDLETON PEPPER'S POLARIZED EYEWEAR PERTEX PETROUS PETZL AMERICA PH GARMENT MFG CO LTD PICKLE JUICE PIECEMAKER GEAR PISTIL PITTARDS PLC PLANETA ESIGN PLASTICA PANARO PLASTICS ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS TEAM PLUSFOAM POCKET DISC POINT6 POLAR BOTTLE/PRODUCT ARCHITECTS POLARMAX PONTETORTO SPA POPFOAM POPSOCKETS LLC POPTICA ORTABLE ESPRESSO LLC PORTLAND WOOLEN MILLS POWER VISION POWERFILM INC POWERSTEP PRANA PREMIERE FASHION CORP. PRIMALOFT PRIMUS PRINCE OF PEACE ENTERPRISE, INC. PRINCETON PRISM KI CHNOLOGY PRO-TEC ATHLETICS PROFORCE EQUIPMENT, INC. PROFORCE EQUIPMENT, INC. PROPET USA PRYM FASHION USA PULL START FIRE PURE BODY LOGIX PURNELL QALO QINGDAO CLUSTERLOFT CO., L UAD LOCK QUIKSILVER R&J BROTHERS INTERNATIONAL RAB USA RAD INNOVATION, LLC RADIUS CORPORATION RAIDLIGHT RAIN RETAIL RAINBOW SANDALS RAM MOUNTS RAMBO BIKES RAPIDPURE WATER PURIFIC ON RAVE SPORTS REAL SHADES REALTREE RED LEDGE RED PADDLE CO. RED ROCK OUTDOOR GEAR REDEW REDUCE REEBOK PERFORMANCE FOOTCARE REEF REEL OBSESSION REFLECTIVE ART INC. RELIAN RODUCTS LTD RENOGY RENOVO WATER RETAIL INFORMATION SYSTEMS (RIS) REVEAL REVEL GEAR RIDER SANDALS RINSE BATH & BODY RINSEKIT RIO ADVENTURE / RIO GEAR ROANOKE, VIRGINIA ROASTYZ TOAST OCK-ON ROCKAGATOR ROCKETSHIP INC ROCKTAPE, INC. ROCKY MOUNTAIN UNDERGROUP ROKUM ROLLER DERBY SKATE CORP- DBA LIGHT’EM UP, CHAHEATI CO. ROME INDUSTRIES ROXY RS DESIGNS, LLC - KRIMSO LOVER RUFFWEAR RUMBLE ROLLER RXBAR RYAN MICHAEL TRADING, LLC RŌM OUTDOORS SABRE SECURITY EQUIPMENT CORPORATION SAFE REFLECTIONS SAGE MARINE SAKROOTS SALOMON SALTIC S.R.O. SAL ARINE WEAR SAMUEL HUBBARD SAWYER PRODUCTS SAXX UNDERWEAR SBS ZIPPER SCARPA SCENTLOK SCHILLER BIKES SCHOELLER TEXTIL USA SCHRADE EQUIPMENT SCOPREGA SPA – BRAVO SCOTTY FISHIN ARINE & OUTDOOR PRODUCTS SCRUBBA BY CALIBRE8 SEA EAGLE BOATS INC SEA TO SUMMIT SEALON / BRISTEX CO., LTD. SEASENSE SEATTLE SPORTS SECUR PRODUCTS SEE KAI RUN INTERNATIONAL SEE-MO EA, INC. SENDERO PROVISIONS CO. SHADE SCIENCE, LLC SHANGHAI HICON INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. SHEICO GROUP SHELTA, INC. SHENG YUAN TEXTILE SHERPA ADVENTURE GEAR SHERPANI SHIMADA SHOJI (HK) LIMIT HINHANIND SHOWAFLOPS SHOWPRO TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. SHWOOD EYEWEAR SIERRA CLUB SIERRA DESIGNS SINGTEX INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD. SIXUP CORPORATION SKECHERS USA SKINNERS TECHNOLOGIES SKIN ALAMIS SLACKLINE INDUSTRIES/ TREEPOD-HANGING TREEHOUSES SLIDEBELTS SLOW LORIS SLUMBERJACK / EXXEL SMARTWOOL SMC SMOKEY MOUNTAIN SNUFF SNOW PEAK SNOWLINE CO., LTD. SO ILL, INC. SO SA SOCKWELL SOFFE ACTIVE SOG SPECIALTY KNIVES & TOOLS SOLE SOMMERS PLASTICS SONAL INDUSTRIES CO., LTD. SORBOTHANE PERFORMANCE INSOLES SOTO SOURCE VAGABOND SYSTEMS SOURCING SMA OUTHERN SALES AND MARKETING SOUTHERN WEAVING SPAREHAND PADDLESPORTS / STONEMAN SPORTS SPEAQUA SOUND CO. SPEED CINCH INC. SPEEDO SPENCO FOOTWEAR SPERRY SPIBELT SPORTSON OURCE, LLC SPRIGS SPYDERCO, INC. STANCE STANLEY – PMI STANSPORT STAR GARMENT GROUP STERIPEN STERLING GLOBAL PRODUCTS, LLC STERLING ROPE COMPANY, INC. STERNO PRODUCTS STOHLQUI ATERWARE STONEWEAR STORM CARE STRETCH BY FOREVER NEW STRIDER SPORTS INT'L STRONGBACK CHAIRS, LLC STRONGBODY APPAREL STUBBY STRIP LLC SUEDWOLLE GROUP SUMMIT DISTRIBUTION S OMPANY, INC. SUNBELT USA SUNDAY AFTERNOONS SUNICE SUNNY SPECIAL DYEING & FINISHING CO., LTD. SUNPOCKET SUNSKI SUPEREYE PRODUCTS CO. SUPERFEET SUREFIRE, LLC SURFTECH / NSP SURVIV EDICAL, LLC SURVIVOR FILTER SUSTAINABLE APPAREL GROUP / THREADS 4 THOUGHT SVEN DESIGN SWEETWOOD JERKY SWISSTEX DIRECT SWRVE SYNERGY ORGANIC CLOTHING TABAR/FOWNES PERFORMAN ROUP TAIGA COOLERS LLC TAILWIND NUTRITION TAIWAN PAIHO LIMITED TAIWAN TEXTILE FEDERATION TAIWAN TEXTILE FEDERATION TAS, TIANHAI ATHLEISURE SOLUTION TEAM WENDY TEAR-AID REPAIR PATCH CNICA USA TEIJIN FRONTIER CO., LTD. TENDON TENKARA ROD CO. TENTREE TENTSILE TEPUI OUTDOORS TERRA NATION USA TERRAMAR BASE LAYER TESTOSTERONE/DIBA TRUE SHOES TEXBASE TEXOLLINI, IN XSPORT THE AMERICAN OUTDOORSMAN THE JEFF LOWE MOUNTAIN FOUNDATION THE LANDMARK PROJECT THE NORTH FACE THE NPD GROUP THE SOZE GROUP DISTRIBUTORS INC. THEGOBOAT THERMACE EPELLENTS, INC THERMORE THERMOS LLC THOMAS BATES - T.B. PHELPS THOUSAND THREE ZOOM INTERNATIONAL INC. THULE TIFOSI OPTICS, INC. TIGER TAIL USA TIKI TOSS/MELLOW MILITIA TILLEY ENDURABL MBERLAND TIMBUK2 DESIGN TITEX VERTRIEBS GMBH TOAD&CO TOAKS OUTDOOR INC. TOKYO PLAST INTERNATIONAL, LTD. TOMTOM, INC TOPO ATHLETIC TOPO DESIGNS TORAY INTERNATIONAL AMERICA, IN ORQUE JET BOARDS TOYOTA TSUSHO CORPORATION TOYSMITH TPACC TRAILTOPIA TRANGO TRAVEL PAL TRAVELCHAIR COMPANY TRAVELON TRAVIS MERRIGAN TREDAGAIN TREKSTA TRESPASS USA, INC. TRIMME ARDWARE COMPANY TRIMR TRUE GRIT TSI MANUFACTURING LLC TURBO TENT TWEAVE LLC, A DIV. OF GEHRING TRICOT CORP. TWISTED X ULTIMA REPLENISHER ULTIMATE DIRECTION ULTRATECH BRANDS ULU BOO SUBO SHOES UNDER ARMOUR UNDERWATER AUDIO UNIFI MANUFACTURING, INC UNIQUE BATIK UNITED BY BLUE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE UNTAPPED UPS UR STICKERS URAL MOTORCYCLES US SHOW CENT C UST BRANDS UTICA CUTLERY COMPANY VACATION FOR LIFE CLOTHING VAPUR VARGO VASQUE FOOTWEAR VASTRADE (QUANZHOU) SPORTSWEAR IN LTD. VEEVANPRO VERTICAL SOURCE VIBRAM USA VICTO PORTSWEAR, INC. VIDA SHOES INTERNATIONAL VIRUS PERFORMANCE VSSL OUTDOOR UTILITY TOOLS VUORI W DURABLE GOODS W. L. GORE & ASSOCIATES, INC. W. R. CASE & SONS CUTLERY COMPANY WALLARO

1,100 brands (and counting). One community.

O U T D O O R R E T A I L E R . C O M

T RE N D S POT T I NG

S HADES OF GRAY The new neutral for fall ranges from posh periwinkle to soft slate and tones in between.

Photography by Tr e v e t t Mc C a n d l i s s Clockwise from top left: Restricted, Bettye Muller, Shellys London, Bill Blass, Anne Klein.

Center: Loriblu.

26 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

2017 june • footwearplusmagazine.com 27

Sarah Flint giraffe-hair boots, T By Alexander Wang dress with Zadig & Voltaire sequin jacket, Barton Perreira sunglasses. Socks and hosiery throughout

by Marcmarcs.

29

Platform stiletto by Loriblu. Opposite: Marion Parke feather and velvet sandals, Gooseberry Intimates bodysuit under Cadieux leggings, Floriane Fosso jacket, hat by MKT Studio, By Thiel necklaces.

30

Fur-lined velvet mules by Summit, velvet dress by Cadieux. Opposite: Parme Marin fur slide, bodysuit and leggings by Ultracor, Zynni Cashmere fur cape, stylist’s own necklace.

33

Snakeskin Mary Jane

by Mark Fisher, bralette

by Gooseberry Intimates, Cadieux fur coat, MKT Studio skirt, choker from Fashionest.

35

Feather-backed stiletto by James Chan. Opposite: Aerosoles peacock smoking slippers, Bordelle bustier worn over Aqua top, pants by MKT Studio. Zadig & Voltaire, T By Alexander Wang, Aqua, Haute Hippie and Cinq å Sept available through Bloomingdale’s. Fashion editor and stylist: Ann Loynd; model: Daphne D./Wilhelmina Models; hair and makeup: Matthew Sky/Next Artists.

36

37

EDITOR’S PICKS

Christian Siriano

D E S I G N E R C H AT

SOME LOVE STORIES start over a cup of coffee or a romantic dinner. Butter Italy designers Dennis and Lynne Comeau’s started, fittingly enough, over a line of shoes.

Dennis was in his early 20s, temping at a shoe company and of the belief he could do “a way better job” at designing. “I’ve always had a great love for design and I become obsessed, which is sometimes my Achilles heel and sometimes a great asset,” he says. In this case, it was the latter. Comeau bought a one-way ticket to Italy, where he learned last making and design before opening Visionaire Design Studio in Florence. Meanwhile, Lynne’s fashion career started as a ready-to-wear buyer at Harvey Nichols in London. A few years after relocating to New York for a position at a designer shoe boutique, she accepted a job at Visionaire’s New York showroom, where she met Dennis. The duo soon moved in together in Florence, where they grew a family while designing shoes for Bernardo, Brighton and Golette along the way.

When it came time for their kids to start high school, the Comeaus relocated to New York and, last year, acquired luxury shoe label Butter Italy and its bridal line, Something Bleu. Founded in 2007 by Nancy Geist (former designer for Cynthia Rowley and Lee Reich), Butter Italy offers feminine Italian-made shoes in a more affordable price tier for savvy consumers who seek quality but not overt labels. “She wants beautiful Italian shoes and wants to feel confident and comfortable in them all day,” Lynne says, adding, “She’s weary of here-today-gone-tomorrow trends.”

In that vein, the Fall ’17 collection focuses on silhouettes that are versatile, classic and sophisticated. “We’re focusing on kitten heels and pointy-toe flats,” Dennis says, believing the label is ahead of the curve on trends. “The styles have longevity that will always sell,” he notes, adding, “The versatility of what you can wear with both is extensive.” —Ann Loynd What is Butter Italy’s design ethos? Dennis: We create shoes you will never want to get rid of; you can wear them for years. They’re a marriage of style and comfort. The design is balanced and ingratiating, eternally beautiful, fresh and feminine. It’s all about proportion and graceful lines. Lynne: Our shoes are designed for the person who cares how she looks and wants value. Most styles have a nice touch or nuance, but it’s never over-the-top.

38 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

Kenneth Cole

Sey Collection

T H E L AT E S T B U Z Z Bees swarm across a range of silhouettes.

Where do you look for inspiration?

Dennis: Although it would be romantic to say, ‘I was inspired by the beautiful colors and people on my recent backpacking trips to Nepal,’ that’d be a crock. Shopping and looking at what people are wearing while traveling helps. But I just get to work, really.

It was Thomas Edison who said, ‘Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.’ Lynne: Tequila.

Why is the made-in-Italy aspect key?

Lynne: Italy is number one, and there is no number two. Dennis: I’m only interested in making beautiful, luxurious-quality shoes. We work in small factories with passionate artisans who have generations of experience making luxury shoes. You can only find that in Italy.

What do you find most rewarding? Lynne: Walking into the factory and seeing the whole production line being taken up by

one hot shoe. Dennis: Getting to the factory to see new prototypes and finding out everything came out perfectly so we can take the afternoon off to have a big lunch with truffle ravioli and a bottle of Tignanello.

But that’s never quite happened.

Who is your fashion icon? Dennis: Bettie Page and Bryan Ferry. Lynne: Vivienne Westwood. Being a Londoner, I totally relate to her—eccentric and very British.

What celebrities would you like to see wear your shoes? Dennis: Not any of the Kardashians. Lynne: Cheers to that!

What would you be doing if you weren’t designing shoes? Dennis: Formula One driver. Lynne: Haute couture seamstress.

What’s your motto? Dennis: If anything is worth doing, it’s worth overdoing. Lynne: WWWWD: What would Wonder Woman do?

E D I TO R ’ S P I C K S P H OTO G R A P H Y BY T R E V E T T M CC A N D L I S S

DENNIS & LYNNE COMEAU

S P E C I A L R E P O RT

continued from page 10 ity is in step with consumer’s increasing desire for comfort in couture, and Gucci is proving it can deliver on both fronts. It also shows the power of the consumer in the social media age. “Trends come from multiple sources now, and one of those sources is consumers themselves,” says Beth Goldstein, group fashion footwear analyst for NPD. “With endless information and social media, consumers can decide which trends they want to embrace— they don’t need the designer market to tell them.”

In addition to comfort, Mahoney cites several other reasons for Gucci’s breakout success. He points to craftsmanship and quality of materials, first and foremost, along with Gucci’s constant “changing of the guards” and influx of fresh talent. He’s also notes the label’s popularity in Asia, a growing luxury market. Last, he says, is the worldwide admiration from editors, stylists, high-profile clients and celebrities. “[Influencers] wear the brand’s pieces on red carpets, at galas and at awards shows, and shoppers run to acquire the latest accessories they’ve seen,” Mahoney says.

In addition, recent fashion weeks have seen countless street-style stars sporting Gucci’s fur-lined Princetown slides, pearl-encrusted mid-heel loafers, Marmont patent pumps and metallic kiltie mid-heel mules. (Not to mention, the must-have faded Gucci T-shirt and classic double-G gold belt.) Jacob confirms that the brand’s Marmont pumps (a block-heel kiltie loafer) in red, pink and gold and floral slides are top sellers. For those who can’t afford the real thing, he cites Ash, Erdem, Mango, Topshop and Sam Edelman as having popular renditions.

Going forward, Jacob predicts embellished and “blingy” updates to the Marmont style will gain traction, along with jacquard slippers for men and women. “The new jacquard collection with Donald Duck Ace studded and tigers, metallic leather lo-top pumps and the embellished ‘Bow’ pumps are our best bets to restock in spring,” he says, adding, “Asian souvenirshop influences continue to shape Gucci for the coming seasons, but with a lighthearted, art-meets-pop-culture vibe in 2017.” He points to Rihanna’s bedazzled Gucci outfit for Coachella as the first sign that all-out bling is ready for liftoff. Mahoney believes that mules and fur will also continue to have legs this year, along with embroidered sneakers and printed canvas.

Russo is also keeping her eyes peeled for maximal styles from Gucci in upcoming seasons for the shelves at Bloomingdale’s. “We are excited about the continuation of novelty, crystals, velvet and the overall aesthetic that ‘more is more,’” she says. “The emergence of the shine trend from colored metallic to patent leather feels new and fresh.”

All signs point to Gucci as top trendsetter in the seasons to come. That is, until another label comes along to dethrone the king. Jacob cites stiff competition from Aquazzura and Sophia Webster on digital shelves and notes Dolce & Gabbana, Tods and Giuseppe Zanotti as other key names to watch. “Dolce & Gabbana or even Tom Ford has the ability to land on something that excites everyone,” Mahoney says, noting that Versace could be another potential big-name player. “But they would need a shake-up in management like what materialized within Gucci Group to accomplish that.”

In the meantime, most industry experts are banking on Gucci to keep delivering the goods. “The so-called Gucci effect will last long beyond the trends for placement embroidery and furry slides have run their course,” WGSN’s Hudson predicts. “Already we are seeing a much bolder and braver embrace of color and materials across the footwear category, which is undoubtedly a knock-on effect of Alessandro Michele’s vision for the Gucci brand.” •

W HAT ’S SEL LI N G

W

Comfort Specialty

SUNSET SHOES & LIFESTYLES Destin, FL

ALK INTO ANY of the four Sunset Shoes & Lifestyles stores along Florida’s Emerald Coast and a friendly employee will greet you with pleasant conversation. However, you can bet that greeting won’t begin with, “How may I help you?” That is taboo for employees, explains Joy Hardy, owner of the family footwear chain with three locations in Destin and one in Panama City. Ever since Hardy took over the original Destin location post-college from her parents, she has made customer service her No. 1 priority. “We ask where they are from and what brought them to the area—always very social, not forced,” she says. After showing the customer around the store and allowing them to browse, Hardy says customers are usually inclined to ask for assistance. “From there, our employees can sit them down and bring what they requested—plus more,” she says.

Hardy’s parents opened the first Sunset Shoes & Lifestyles location in Panama City nearly 40 years ago. Now as the primary owner of all four locations, she has adhered to the comfort footwear specialty retailing basics: quality selection of leading name brands coupled with great customer service. The 6,000-square-foot flagship in Destin, for example, is home to more than 55 brands, spanning kids to adults. In addition, apparel (The North Face, Columbia and Patagonia as well as regionally themed collections by Southern Tide and Southern Fried Cotton), jewelry, bags (Hobo, Eric Javits and Vera Bradley), swimsuits, and an array of beachy accessories have been added to the mix. Hardy takes great pride in a selection that offers something for everyone. “It’s almost like walking into a department store,” she says. “It’s nice to come into a momand-pop shop with our level of service and that type of selection—it definitely sets us apart.” —Emily Beckman What are your best-selling brands? Birkenstock is our top seller and makes up around 30 percent of our total footwear sales. In particular, the Arizona sandal is very popular. We sell brown shades best. However, customers have been asking more for black this season. Last year, it was pearl white, but this year it’s back to the browns and black. Other popular brands include Sam Edelman, Mephisto, OluKai and Ugg. If we start venturing off to more fashion without the comfort aspect though, it never goes well.

Are any new brands added to the mix recently performing well? Probably the newest up-and-coming brand that we’ve really expanded on is L’Amour Des Pieds. It’s kind of along the lines of Gentle Souls. They’ve been in business for about four years, and we started carrying them last year.

How’s business been overall this year? Good. We are definitely trending

40 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

up. We came off 2015 with a tremendous increase. In 2016, we had a slight increase. So far this year we are trending up from there. As long as it keeps going in that direction, I’ve got no complaints!

So the well-documented difficulties of many brick-and-mortar retailers has not impacted your business as much? Not really. We did feel a little bit during the holidays. We thought we would be busier before the Christmas season, but we ended up being busier afterward. What happens now is everyone waits for the sales. So that hurts a bit, but most of our business is still done during the spring and summer. Even fall has gotten a lot better with schools having breaks in October.

Do you think there will always be a place for brick-and-mortar retail? Yes. There are still plenty of customers who want that level of service and experience. They want to be professionally fitted, or they come in just for the social aspect.

Also, e-commerce is tough when it comes to selling shoes. Having to guess the fit, order them online and then ship them back when they don’t work out is definitely an inconvenience.

So no e-commerce extension anytime soon? We tried the Internet thing, but it was a lot of work that we weren’t ready for yet. It’s just so hard to compete with those Amazon-like sites that offer free shipping. You just can’t make it profitable.

But we may get back into it in the future. In the meantime, we still do a lot of mail order for our customers. We mail shoes out every day.

What is the biggest challenge facing your business right now? Competition is constantly moving into the area. There have been several stores that have opened, or are about to open, that carry many of our lines of clothing and shoes. How do we compensate for that? We just try harder. We do social media campaigns to try and bring customers in, let them know about our new lines and, most importantly, continue to give great customer service, because that’s so hard to find these days. I mean, how many times do you walk into a store and nobody greets you? Anytime I walk into retail shops that don’t engage me, I think back to how fantastic my staff is.

What’s the most effective way of attracting new customers? We do a lot of billboards, and that’s how we attract most of our customers. We probably have more billboards than any business in Destin. That and social media.

What is the smartest business decision you’ve ever made? Just keeping it simple and sticking with many of our original footwear lines, in addition to continually educating the customer and growing our business from where we started since the doors opened. Maintaining what’s been working all along seems to be what carries us from day to day. We had some stores around us open and close within a year, so we must be doing something right.

continued from page 17/Family Matters have an absolutely fantastic lace-to-toe sneaker in our Softinos collection that we’ve been selling for five years now. It’s a comfort-glamorized sneaker at $150 to $160 and it’s been doing very well at retail. But it’s not designed to go up against Adidas’ Stan Smith. It’s a different animal. It’s our brand identity in that fashion direction. So people can complain that everybody only wears sneakers right now. Well, then maybe you should be making some sneakers.

What’s Bos. & Co.’s position on direct-to-consumer selling?

We’re not interested in helping put our customers out of business. We’re not involved in DTC sales other than the website run at our Fly London stores in New York and Toronto that follow the same MAP policy. We are not interested in building up an e-commerce business and undercutting our retailers—not at all.

Well, you are appear to be in a definite minority on this matter.

That’s unfortunate. The reason we opened flagships in Toronto and New York was to showcase the full breadth of our brands because retailers never buy the whole collection. It would be foolish to even expect them to do that.

But we wanted to let people know all that we do.

continued from page 20/ It’s All Good centers to working in food shelters and boxing items for crisis nurseries.

Each year, the objective has been to get more employees to volunteer.

Julia Marsh, corporate communications manager, says it has involved a range of efforts, like in 2014, which coincided with the St. Louis–based company’s 100th anniversary on the New York Stock Exchange. “We tied the milestone to Footwear Cares by registering 100 associates to volunteer,” she says. This year, Marsh started planning early in an effort to get Caleres on board with Two Ten’s initiative to group companies within their respective cities. Caleres teamed with New Balance, and 25 associates across both companies volunteered at Mathews-Dickey Boys’ & Girls’ Club to facilitate its field day activities for the Riverview Garden School District.

Although the day had to be moved indoors due to rain, it was a smashing success filled with indoor hockey, arts and crafts, basketball, dance, gymnastics and even DJ’ing. “The students had a great time,” Marsh reports. “We enjoyed pizza with them, and thanks to a generous donation from Under Armour, we were able to gift each student a Sackpack.”

Before handing out the packs, Wendell Covington Jr., president and CEO of Mathews-Dickey, delivered an uplifting speech to the kids. “The

That’s quite different, unless you have plans to roll out a fleet of such stores and aggressively promote an online DTC channel?

Well, I’m searching for some logic as to why a brand would want to push their retail customers away. Maybe with Nike or Adidas they are so strong in that retailers feel that they can’t live without them and that they just have to accept it?

For most everyone else, it could be a risky move to continue to give buyers a reason to look elsewhere. Opening flagships is an expensive endeavor and the Internet is a vast sea where one can get lost.

I agree. That’s why we are big proponents of a B2B business model. We’re always looking for ways to be more progressive in that area. B2C is not in our vocabulary.

Where do you envision Bos. & Co. in five years?

I see us continuing our growth and strengthening our brands in both Canada and the U.S. We still think that we have a great deal to grow in these marketplaces. We’re a small fish in a very big pond and there’s no place but for us to grow. I see us expanding our product lines and distribution. We have a couple of loaves of bread in the oven for Spring ’18 and we’ll be introducing a new brand at this August’s FFANY show. It’s a new men’s and women’s brand made in Portugal.

What are you most proud of with regards to your company?

If I had to pick one thing, I would say that, after 28 long years, recently opening our 30,000-square-foot office, warehouse and showroom in Burlington is it. It was always a long-term life goal to have our own facility. I’m very proud that we’ve been able to do that together as a family. We own the land and the building.

What do you love most about your job?

I love the variety that my job offers. I don’t mind the fact that we attend 30 shows across Canada and the U.S. twice a year. I don’t mind the fact that I spend 26 weeks of the year away from my home, because I love all the experiences that I’m able to have in these travels. The opportunity to speak to different people in countries from around the world—that’s what I love most about this job. •

Sweat equity: Caleres employees played games with children at the Mathews-Dickey Boys’ & Girls’ Club in St. Louis.

amount of gratitude the students showed was humbling,” Marsh says.

Marsh was also impressed by the Mathews-Dickey team, who met with volunteers before the children arrived to offer advice on how to share their career experience with the students and illustrate how a skillset can lead to a profession later in life. “This was great advice, and it was fun talking to the kids about the spectrum of different jobs the volunteers hold,” she says, adding that the opportunity to help kids was a “treat” for everyone.

The overall goal with Footwear Cares, Marsh says, is the same every year: “To give our associates an opportunity to give back in our community, represent Caleres and to be reminded of all that Two Ten does.” Marsh is already working on opportunities to make Footwear Cares a year-round program. “Giving back to our community is something Caleres believes in strongly and we encourage and applaud those who give themselves,” she says. “No matter how we’re giving back, it’s a great motivator to do more and be involved in the communities where we live and work.” —A.L. 2017 june • footwearplusmagazine.com 41

UPCLOSE KIDS

Play Date JambuKD expands into hybrid athleisure styles for girls and boys.

A MUST-HAVE in the outdoor market, JambuKD is expanding into the athleisure game, a move that the Vida Group Intl. brand believes will reach a broader consumer base, specifically boys. “Outdoor is very function driven—there’s a purpose behind the product—but we also want to make products that kids want to wear and are trending,” says Marketing Director Michelle Hinsvark. Of late, the go-to trend is sneakers. Period.

The expansion into sneakers begins this fall with the debut of three hybrid sneakerboots for boys ($55 to $59 SRP). The boots feature a new Peregrine outsole construction (a feather-like texture for lightness and grip), Phylon EVA midsole and molded cushion sockliner. “The new construction has brought an element that we haven’t seen in our portfolio before,” Hinsvark says. “It makes us a dual-gender brand.”

She adds that the technical attributes separate the collection from the overwhelming amount of kid’s athleisure on the market. “It’s functional but looks nice and trendy with hybrid versatility,” she says, noting that buyers have responded strongly to the new offerings. “Retailers felt there was something new and special in the line. We’ve received really great reactions on our boys’ product for fall.”

Building off that momentum, JambuKD will introduce more hybrid offerings for both genders for Spring ’18. “There isn’t a lot of hybrid product for boys,” states Naly Lee, director of design at Vida Group Intl. “It’s a sandal or a sneaker, and not a lot in between.” To hit that sweet spot, the brand is introducing a crossover, waterready sneaker-meets-sandal for boys and girls dubbed the Anthozoa ($55 SRP). Its cutout design offers style, drainage and breathability with all-terra traction outsoles for grip and flexibility. Adjustable bungee lacing makes for easy on-and-off and superior fit, and the entire shoe—plus the removable insoles—is machine washable.

Four colorways offer sporty hues and girly metallics that make the shoe accessible to both genders. “The girly girl can have purple and pink, but if she wants to be a Tomboy, it’s available in those colorways too,” Hinsvark says, adding, “It’s not as polarizing as a Mary Jane.”

To market the new styles, JambuKD is reaching out to consumers directly with a Spring ’18 message that is all about play. A promotion for the Anthozoa, for example, depicts a fun game of tag and hide-and-seek outdoors. “We’re bringing in that playful element, as opposed to the notion of more rough-and-rugged styles only to be worn outdoors,” Hinsvark explains. This mom, she adds, is not necessarily the same woman who buys Jambu for herself. So the brand has developed new Facebook and Instagram pages (a JambuKD website is also in the works) to try and reach new customers. In addition, the brand will introduce pop-up shops and hold local events, like its recent Earth Day gathering at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio. “We want to make a connection with Mom so that when she walks into our retail partners, she already knows about JambuKD,” Hinsvark says. —Ann Loynd 42 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

Cool for School Livie & Luca uniform shoes offer a dash of individual style.

MANY SCHOOLS HAVE dress codes, but within the guidelines there is some wiggle room that presents the opportunity to introduce a little style. That’s exactly the approach Mitzi Rivas, cofounder of Livie & Luca, has taken with the launch of the brand’s first-ever school uniform–approved collection for boys and girls.

While meeting the dress code requirements of black, brown and navy uppers with brown, black or gum outsoles, Rivas says the shoes contain “a little touch of Livie & Luca magic.” Said touches include liners with hand-drawn alphabet prints, subtle scalloped details and breathable Napa leather. The classroomready styles ($56 SRP) include the Briar, a scalloped slip-on; Ruche, the brand’s best-selling Mary Jane; and Hayes, a dress style with double Velcro straps. Rivas adds that the category presents a market extension opportunity for both the brand and its (mainly) independent boutiques and select online partners.

In addition to the uniform collection, Rivas says the Ruche comes in new fall colorways, including Champagne, Guava Shimmer and Scarlet along with the top-selling Butterscotch hue. The popular Carta style has been reimagined as the Carta II with a cozy wool exterior in a range of warm colors. As for the style’s Livie & Luca magic touch: the insole features an oldfashioned love-letter penned by Rivas to her daughter Maya. “It’s just sweet and wonderful,” she says, “and the button is screenprinted for a touch a whimsy.” Fall also sees the addition of the brand’s first ballet flat, the Aurora. The flexible, lightweight silhouette is slimmed-down for a narrow to medium width and features non-skid outsoles.

Looking forward to Spring ’18, Rivas says designs are inspired

by Mexican papel picado (cutout paper), paper flowers, embroidery and tropical fruits. Highlights include the embroidered Paz Mary Jane and the Carmen laser-cut peep-toe sandal. “Our palette is vibrant and nods to that warmth Mexico invokes,” Rivas says. Other spring styles of note include a coyote-print sneaker for boys on which the moon appears when in the sunlight, and pink canvas sneaker for girls where an orange flamingo makes an appearance in the sunlight. Rivas believes such conversation pieces provide a touch-point for retailers and adds that more such styles will be in the offering coming seasons. “It’s so much fun to have an interactive product,” she says. “We’re constantly thinking about innovation and ways we can delight.” —A.L.

GOING GAGA FOR GUCCI

•

MEET THE QUEEN BEE OF THE SHOE HIVE

•

TREND SPOTTING: WHY GRAY MATTERS

G ’16 ING COMF ORT : SPRIN NG MOVE S • DEFIN • MUNR O & CO. MAKI .S. RE-LAUNCH • G E OX S E T F O R U ACE YOUR SPACE NYC’S STORY : EMBR IS WEARABLE ART H T T U O K C • E H C P L E F O R G U YS T H E N E W S U M M E R STA

Lost in the flood: Many South Carolinians are in

continued from page 23 need of footwear and clothing donations. that the boutiques collaborate on. This year, a children’s boutique owner came up with the idea to have an Easter egg hunt to draw families to the area. “We had a lot of families come out to participate,� Todd reports, adding, “We want to do fun things that make people explore Old Town in different ways than maybe they would have before.� In addition to the new egg hunt, the district holds a scavenger hunt each fall where prizes are awarded for people who fill out a passport-like card by visiting various stores.

Todd also engages customers in frequent in-store events of her own.

This past Mother’s Day, for example, she set up crafts in The Shoe Hive’s courtyard, offering complimentary doughnuts, coffee and even mimosas for the moms or dads who brought kids. “It was a little rainy, but that didn’t stop us from having a great time,� she reports. Other events have included philanthropic engagements and a men’s shopping night held around Christmastime, complete with kegs, bratwurst and bourbon. “The men are drinking bourbon and buying shoes—they’re happy and their women are happy!� Todd says with a laugh. “We always try to keep things fun throughout the year.�

SURVIVING THE STING The difficulty many brick-and-mortar retailers are facing of late has not gone unnoticed by Todd, but she adamantly states that The Shoe Hive has yet to be rattled. “It’s more of the big box stores that are really feeling it than small, independent boutiques,� she says. And while she’s well-aware of the increasing popularity of online shopping, Todd takes solace in the fact that the majority of shopping is still being done in brick-and-mortar retailers. (Some industry estimates peg it at more than 85-percent market share.) Todd also believes that her customers don’t always want to deal with the hassle of ordering shoes online, only to ship them back (S4S) when they properly.

Thereisare worthy reasons, Carolina a high SOLES4SOULS IS don’t fitSouth Todd believes, why customers make the effort to shop The Shoe Hive priority for us.� answering a call for help in in the flesh. It’s entertaining, also helpful. “People come to us Tiffany Johnson, S4S outSouth Carolina after catastroph-and it’s because they know trust our advice want to try things reach and coordinator, takes this on,� she ic flooding ravaged theus, state says. “IRecord know itrainfall—more sounds crazy, because is personally. just across She the river, but reliefD.C. effort recently. we25 areinches—forced still an independent population was araised in one of of 200,000. the hard- It’s an than thou- city with isolated est hit areas and her mother sands frommarket.� their homes and So don’thave expect andeclared e-commercestill extension anytime lives there. “As soon at as The we Shoe 20 counties been Hive.disasters.

For starters, it’s17an expensive endeavor in order to Ido it well. realized the scope of this, was federal While peophone talking with vari- in,� very lives, different youthe really have to invest yourself ple“It’s lostatheir tensbusiness of thou-that on ousofagencies Carolina sands more without power Todd says.are And that’s time and a lot money. in It’sSouth one reason why she about how andiswhen we could and water,envision and many othersanlost doesn’t running e-commerce site that truly self-sustaining. help,� she says, noting one of for her all Instead, of their belongings.

Todd is working on a new-and-improved joint website her pictures mother’sof co-workers lost In S4SItiswill issuing a better tworesponse, boutiques. feature the merchandise and everything. “Myshoppers mother asked plea to footwear retailers and user-friendly aspects designed to encouraged to visit the if we put together a few manufactures assist a stores. “It’s to more of in a resource for ourcould customers,â€? she says. “A lot of pairs of shoes forkids herto co-worker, relief The non-profit is from ourmission. loyal customers get home work, put the bed and then I sent casual, dress and tenpartnering withI local realize, ‘Oh, need emergency a dress for thissoweekend‌’â€?

Todd says the site will shoes,�asking Johnson says, adding responders in order to enable customers to provide easily send a nis message for an item to be put that more such athan small, butshe meaningshoes and clothing in anything on hold. “There’s to nothose need for that,� says, adding ful gesture, hadstay.� an enormous need. “We are asking any and I am and “Brick-and-mortar is what what I will “Mybeen mom brought the all retailers manufacturTo thatorend, running The Shoeimpact.

Hive has this entrepreneur’s of shoes work and her“To have ersdream to donate boots, come true.athletic It takes talent,box passion andto commitment. co-worker was overcome and children’s footwear,� a successful business, says you must be good to your customerswith as well as emotion,� she says.

Brian Granfors, creative directo your employees,�

Todd offers. And while behind the scenes there’s a torlot of of S4S. Adds CEO Buddy donate and clothing long hours and hard work thatTogoes into shoes making The Shoe Hive Teaster: “Responding to natural for South Carolina victims a success, Todd knows firsthand that there are worseflood careers. “It’s still disasters been thenot digging or make a monetary donation a lot ofhas fun,â€? she part says.of “I’m ditches—I’m selling shoestofor a Soles4Souls mission the living. I really can’tfrom complain.â€? • S4S, contact Pattie Graben at 615very beginning and helping 541-7007 or pattieg@soles4souls. people get back on their feet in org. —Laurie Cone

Soles4Souls Rallying Call to Aid South Carolina Flood Victims

J U N E 2 0 1 7 ĆŤ Ä‚ Ĉ ĆŤ Ä‘ ĆŤ ĆŤ Ć ĆŤ Ä‘ ĆŤ Ä¸Ä Ä€

ƍ Ă Ć ƍ đ ƍ ļ

ĆŤ Ä‚ Ä€ Ä Ä† ĆŤ Ä‘ ĆŤ

ĆŤÄ‚Ä€Ä Ä†

ƍ Ă Ć ƍ đ ƍ

ĆŤ ÄŠ ĆŤ Ä‘ ĆŤ Ä¸Ä Ä€

ĆŤ Ĉ ĆŤ Ä‘ ĆŤ Ä¸Ä Ä€

ACK FL ASHB Groove

Designers ng to a ’70s Vibe for Spri

JUNGLE LOVE

Designers Pelt it Out of the Park

LUME MP UP THE VO : DESIGNERS PU LET’S DANCE

fw_cover_06_17.indd 38 5/17/17 6:04 PM

Enjoyed This Issue of Footwear Plus?

Stay engaged and informed of the most relevant and insightful market news and latest fashion trends by subscribing to the premiere industry fashion magazine: Footwear Plus.

!

A quick visit to www.footwearplus-subscribe.com ensures that you will receive a free subscription to our award-winning publication. Be sure to include your email address and phone number so we can easily contact you for timely, uninterrupted renewal service.

!

Feel free to contact us anytime at circulation@9threads.com or (440) 871-1300 with your questions. june 2008 • footwearplusmagazine.com 51

LAS T WORD

History Channeling

Period Pieces American Duchess creates reproduction footwear that looks v i n t a g e b u t w e a r s l i k e n e w.

By Ann Loynd

ESIGNERS HAVE BEEN decade surfing these days, reaching as far back as the ’20s to the everpopular ’70s, and most recently, to the maximal ’80s and grunge-era ’90s for inspiration and exact reincarnations. Experts say the frequent nods to nostalgia are deemed safe bets that harken back to happier times for many consumers. Then there’s American Duchess, makers of footwear reaching way, way back—to the 18th century, in fact—that is also gaining traction in these retro-loving times.

Business has been “awesome,” reports Lauren Stowell, co-founder of the Reno, NV–based company that specializes in women’s historical footwear ranging from the Renaissance to Edwardian and Victorian periods. She says American Duchess, which launched in 2011, has been selling its collection of Regency slippers, Victorian button boots, Civil War boots, Edwardian oxfords and 1920s T-strap spectator sandals mainly direct-to-consumer online and via select wholesale partnerships in Europe. (Retail price range is $99 to $190 and up to $295 for limited-edition styles.) Stowell describes the company’s customer base as “anyone who wants pretty, historic shoes.” That spans stage performers to TV actors, opera singers, reenactors, historic costumers and plenty of history buffs. “We sell a lot of shoes to the Met, Stratford Festival, Colonial Williamsburg and a lot of TV shows,” she says. “There’s a need for reproductions that look the part and are also comfortable, especially for stage performers who are on their feet two shows a night.”

In that respect, Stowell says the shoes are exact replicas visually but feature contemporary comfort constructions. “They’re made for a modern foot with modern comfort features,” she notes.

For example, Stowell says shoes predating the 1860s were created as a flat with a heel simply stuck on. “It creates a toe-down silhouette, and our gait today is very different than someone

44 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2017

in 1800,” she explains. “We want it to look the part but be sized for a modern foot. We strike a balance between historic reproduction, modern engineering and small-batch manufacturing.”

Stowell, a historical costumer by trade, started American Duchess due to an inability to find historically accurate footwear on the market. Experienced in product design, she used her prowess to create a prototype that she then offered for pre-order on her costuming blog, American Duchess. She and her husband/business partner Chris were only expecting to make a little extra cash to supplement their freelance gigs—he’s a photographer, she’s an illustrator. But sales of that first shoe and subsequent styles—all made in small factories in China—skyrocketed beyond their wildest dreams. Since that first year, American Duchess has sold nearly 17,000 pairs.

The company’s most popular styles are those that cross over into everyday wear, mainly from the Edwardian era. Stowell cites the Astoria, Gibson and Londoner as bestsellers, all circa 1900–1925, and featuring a stacked French heel. “They aren’t that far removed, but we pay a lot of attention to silhouette, heel shape and height,” she says, adding that the company’s website saw a sales uptick in these styles with the popularity of the PBS series, Downton Abbey.

While the post-Edwardian drama series has run its course, Stowell believes there’s no shortage of interest in period pieces. In mid-2015, the duo introduced a brand extension, Royal Vintage, that offers styles focused on footwear Edwardian-era from the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s, and she reports Tango boot and Pompadour French the brand is “growing nicely.” From here, she Court shoe, circa hopes to expand into other areas of the historic 1680-1760 (top). dress community, such as dressmaking pattern books. In the meantime, American Duchess has the unique advantage of not having to create new styles or keep up with the latest trends.

“We make shoes that, in some instances, have been out of fashion for 200 years, so they’re not going to go out of fashion now,” Stowell says.

# ( / / + ! " / / 4 # / - \ # ( / / + ! " / / 43

'IGI -ID 7ATER PROOF -EMORY &OAM )NSOLE