A great Hush Puppies story

“We are working work with more multichannel retailers and offering more brands,” said James. “Ben has done a particularly great job over the last couple of years with Hush Puppies. This is a great success story for us.”

Hush Puppies is owned by American company Wolverine, which also owns Caterpillar footwear. “Wolverine licensed Hush Puppies to us two years ago and Ben, along with his design and resourcing team, put together a range which is growing rapidly. Another exclusive brand success story for us is Muck Boots, and our own brand, Cotswold, won outdoor brand of the year last year.”

Gardiners’ success lies in its relationship with retailers and brands. “We may launch a brand in the UK and grow it to a size where it’s no longer sensible for a retailer to use us as a distributor,” said James. “It becomes more costeffective for them to buy direct from the manufacturer and we help them do that.”

He cites the example of Timberland Pro. “Around four years ago the company which owns Timberland Pro relaunched the brand through us in the UK. Last year it bought out the cool work-wear brand Dickies, and it made sense for Timberland Pro to sell through Dickies in Europe rather than through us as distributors.”

It seems a bit unfair for Gardiners to lose out after successfully introducing a brand, but James doesn’t see it like that.