All Shoe Intelligence articles in Volume 26, Issue 17+18 – Page 2

  • Ara shoes
    Article

    Ara appoints a new CEO

    2024-08-26T09:17:00Z

    Ara has appointed a new CEO in a leadership change that marks the completion of its restructuring process. On Sept.1, Stefan Rassau will start in his new role, taking on full responsibility for the German footwear group. Rassau will also take over the operational management of strategy, marketing and ...

  • Socque
    Article

    Emerging designer: Socque rocks the classics

    2024-08-23T16:01:00Z

    The Covid-19 pandemic that broke out towards the end of the first quarter of 2020 in Europe, and the subsequent related lockdowns, prompted many to make major life changes. Laure Chareton’s and Camille Cour’s response consisted of launching a high-end women’s footwear brand. After a decade of helping others run ...

  • Bama
    Article

    Bama ceases business operations, trademark acquired by Ganka

    2024-08-23T15:35:00Z

    The German supplier of shoe care products and insoles, Bama, has ceased operations. Despite intensive efforts, no investor was found to keep the insolvent company running, said the insolvency administrator, Alexander Jüchser from the Lieser Rechtsanwälte law firm. Bama’s trademark rights were sold to the Canadian outdoor specialist ...

  • Yulex
    Article

    Yulex launches a new high performance natural rubber

    2024-08-23T10:02:00Z

    The US company Yulex launched Yulex2.0, a new high performance natural rubber material proposed as an alternative to neoprene. The product has applications across a range of products including footwear as well as wetsuits, sportswear, sports equipment, sports medicine and accessories. Jeff Martin, the founder of Julex said “we saw ...

  • News briefs

    French footwear sales dip in July

    2024-08-23T10:02:00Z

    In July, French footwear retail sales fell by a seasonally and working-day adjusted 2.7 percent month-on-month, after growing by 4.6 percent in June, according to the Bank of France. The June figure was revised up from a preliminary growth estimate of 4.5 percent. Overall French retail sales rose by 0.4 ...

  • hermes-rivera canadian flag
    Article

    Rail freight halted in Canada due to labor dispute

    2024-08-22T16:10:00Z

    The Canadian railway companies Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) announced the lockout of their Canadian workers after failed labor talks, resulting in a shutdown of their networks in the country. The companies locked out employees who are members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) ...

  • fly flot
    Article

    C-Suite interview: Fly Flot expands beyond slippers

    2024-08-22T08:19:00Z

    In an attempt to attract a younger clientele, Fly Flot is expanding its collection beyond slippers and clogs to include sneakers and moccasins for both women and men. Shoes now account for 10 percent of production and the target is to double the share. Based near the Northern Italian town ...

  • News briefs

    Sara Blakely launches the footwear brand Sneex

    2024-08-22T08:18:00Z

    Sara Blakely, the founder of the underwear brand Spanx, launched on Aug. 20 the footwear brand Sneex, which focuses on comfortable high-heel shoes. Sneex shoes are manufactured in Spain and retail from $395 to $595. They are available on Sneex.com in three styles (single strap, double strap and wide strap) ...

  • TJX - Brands for Less
    Article

    TJX buys a 35% stake in Dubai-based Brands for Less

    2024-08-21T15:33:00Z

    TJX, a US off-price apparel and home fashions retailer, has signed a definitive agreement to buy a 35 percent stake in Brands for Less (BFL) for $360 million dollars. BFL is a privately-held company based in Dubai and is the region’s only major off-price branded apparel, toys and home fashions ...

  • Bally-Logo
    Article

    Regent buys Bally from JAB

    2024-08-21T09:37:00Z

    Regent affiliate acquires Swiss luxury brand Bally International from JAB, with key leadership set to remain in place.

  • News briefs

    Björn Borg’s shoe revenues surge by 199% in Q2

    2024-08-20T09:09:00Z

    Björn Borg’s footwear revenues surged by 199 percent during the second quarter of 2024 after the sports fashion brand took over the distribution of shoes following the bankruptcy of the Dutch group Unlimited Footwear Group (UFG) in February. UFG, through the subsidiary Serve&Volley was the licensee responsible for Björn Borg’s ...

  • News briefs

    Ted Baker closes all its stores in the UK, Ireland

    2024-08-19T15:02:00Z

    Ted Baker, the troubled British fashion retailer owned by the US group Authentic Brands Group (ABG), will close on Aug. 20 the 31 stores it still operates in the UK and Ireland, which could result in more than 500 layoffs, according the consulting and advisory firm Teneo, which is Ted ...

  • News briefs

    Alibaba's Q1 revenues below expectations

    2024-08-19T15:02:00Z

    In the fiscal first quarter ended June 30, Alibaba reported revenues of 243.24 billion yuan renminbi (€31.13bn), an increase of 6 percent year-on-year but below market expectations of a top line of RMB 249 billion. Revenues were primarily driven by the company’s Cloud Intelligence Group, whose revenues increased by ...

  • News briefs

    Allbirds appoints a new board director

    2024-08-19T14:41:00Z

    San Fransisco-based sports shoe brand Allbirds has appointed Ravi Thanawala, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Papa John’s International, Inc., to its board of directors, effective Sept. 10, 2024. Thanawala has been CFO of Papa John’s since July 2023 and served as interim Chief Executive Officer from March ...

  • News briefs

    United Commerce Group buys Greats from Steve Madden

    2024-08-19T10:32:00Z

    New York-based Unified Commerce Group (UCG) bought the premium sneaker brand Greats from Steve Madden, which had bought the label in 2019. As part of the deal, Steve Madden will take a stake in UCG, according to Footwear News. UCG also invested in the Utah-based womenswear retailer Böhme. “Today we ...

  • Tapestry
    Article

    Tapestry’s takeover of Capri given 30% chance of succeeding

    2024-08-19T10:32:00Z

    The stock market gives an about 30 percent chance that Tapestry’s planned takeover of Capri Holdings will succeed after it was challenged by the US government over concerns that the aggregation could harm competition, according to the brokerage Raymond James. On April 22, 2024, the US Federal Trade Commission decided ...

  • Yearbook 2024
    Article

    Global footwear production fell 6% in 2023

    2024-08-19T10:32:00Z

    In 2023, global footwear production decreased by 6 percent to 22.4 billion pairs, the lowest point in a decade barring the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, according to the World Footwear Yearbook 2024 released by the Portuguese footwear association Apiccaps. Production declined by 1.5 billion pairs, following a drop ...

  • News briefs

    Asian brands increase their presence in the Russian market

    2024-08-19T10:31:00Z

    In the first half of 2024, several new foreign footwear brands emerged in the Russian market, according to CORE.XP, a local consultancy. For example, the Chinese footwear brand Josiny and the Chinese children’s clothing and footwear brand Balaba officially launched operations in the country. In total, 15 new brands started ...

  • News briefs

    Sioux appoints a new sales representative for Austria

    2024-08-19T10:31:00Z

    Sioux has appointed a new sales representative for the Austrian market. Starting from the spring/summer 2025 season, Michael Bachmayer will oversee the company’s sales in the country, the German shoe manufacturer said. The 35-year-old manager brings extensive experience from working with renowned footwear brands such as Rohde, Peter ...