Footwear Insight

16 • Footwear Insight ~ August 2020 footwearinsight.com and Brooks are strong, and we've seen sales of a lot of that product be as good as it was a year ago. Taos' athleisure casual styles and Dansko's athleisure lines are as normal as we can expect, and flip- flops from Oofos and OluKai are ahead of the figures. What we're seeing is what is essential to people, and dressier shoes are nonexistent in sales. The biggest concern is the comfort sandal business, period: That $130 to $160 sandal has been a bread-and-butter lead category, and that's fallen off bigger than anything else. It's a little tough to know what to do there: How do you buy for next spring? What numbers can you use? What process? We have no idea what's a bad and what's good sandal right now. We went through and cut every back every order about 30 percent or more, and for spring, I think right now we're looking at buying absolute necessities. With Hoka and Brooks, I'll buy as normal as I ever bought and the backups, I'll monitor. The new brands that have rolled out have a tougher row to hoe than other brands. What's been super- important has been the Locally business; six of our top 10 brands have been the ones partnered with us on their websites, like Hoka, Keen and Brooks. It helped our website business when we were closed, and we see a lot people who would rather shop local. The amount of conversations we have digitally about product is growing. We have a website, but the website concept is as much about window-shopping. We're still doing appointment-only shopping for the first and last hours, and home delivery, which we never did before. Most of the things we've had to add will become permanent fixtures. —Greg Augustine, owner The Foot Spot, Kansas City, MO What has performed well is anything in the walking category. It's become an athletic shoe business, a slipper business and an arch support business. It is a reallocation of categories and emphasis. Our travel comfort business has always 25 percent of business, and that's moved to insignificant. But the Hoka One Ones of the world, the Brooks and the On Runnings and New Balance have done decently. Oofos flip-flops have been strong, and the Naot Santa Barbara has been good. We haven't been able to carry the Birkenstock line. We're focusing on some of our key fall vendors, and we will treat athletic like it's high season. When it comes to the boot business, we're going to focus on a few key brands, such as Naot. I'm not testing new brands right now; it's not the time to be testing anything out there. For next spring, we'll do more athletic and more essential- based buys, and be cautious with the fashion heels and wedges. I think the slipper category is probably here to stay. It was typically a fourth-quarter category. But with the whole work- at-home thing, I don't think it's going away. — Ryan Richard, owner Robert Schwartz, Eneslow Foot Comfort Center, New York, NY RETAIL I'm not testing new brands right now; it's not the time to be testing anything out there. How do you buy for next spring? What numbers can you use? What process? We have no idea what's a bad and what's a good sandal right now. Tom and John Luck, Lucky Shoes, Fairlawn, Ohio

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