Footwear Insight

dress shoes. And dress is the area where we are really seeing major growth. Our Ophelia on a 50mm heel is one of the best fitting and performing dress shoes in the industry. In boots and booties, the Debbie II and Deon will drive the fashion portion of our business and our best-selling sneakers continue to be fantastic for us such as the Camden at $149.95, the Alexandria at $169.95 and the Ollie at $194.95 are showing up as best sellers everywhere." Strategic Insight: "e independent channel is incredibly important to us," says Spears. "It's one thing to say that and it's totally another thing to create and execute the activities behind that philosophy. We work extremely hard to ensure clean distribution, to provide programs specifically to benefit the independent and we even pay a 'commission' to our retail partners if we make a sale on our D2C site to a consumer who lives within 25 miles of that retailer. We will not run a promotion prior to our retail partners having an opportunity to sell the shoe throughout the season. One could make an argument that we are being naïve in our approach to how we 'protect' our retailers, but that's just who we are. We try to think like retailers in our approach to business." Additionally, the brand has created a partnership marketing program that allows it to "work with each individual store in the manner the retailer best feels they can drive the business," explains Spears. "From there, we realize that being in stock on key product is critical to the success of the independent channel. We have an amazing inventory of great looking and great fitting men's and women's shoes ready to service an account's at-once needs. We may not always have the exact shoe the retailer is looking for because we have not been able to keep up with the high demand for all our shoes, but we have many other great solutions consumers will love to wear." Adds Spears, "Another key point that we want to express is that for retailers to not be disappointed with not getting all the Ara products they want, it's becoming critical for them to place future orders with us during our booking period – and to book the quantity they believe they will sell and not be so dependent upon in-season replenishment because we may be sold out. Having retailers' bookings is key to our focus in 2023 to maintaining inventory to service fill-in orders. Lastly, we're very accessible. Our independent owners know they can reach out to us at any time. We love discussing the business and working together to make sure we both have our very best foot forward!" DARN TOUGH VERMONT "One of Darn Tough's initiatives for this year and into 2023 is to share in the excitement of runners returning to groups, events, and races; and to be on-site as oen as possible," says Tressa Kreis, national sales manager, Darn Tough Vermont. Key Initiative: "We are excited to share our Merino run socks with road and trail runners across the country who are anxious to get back to the start line," says Kreis. "Two races we are particularly proud to support are the Vermont City Marathon and Broken Arrow Skyrace. Ski Rack, Alpenglow Sports, and Bozeman Running Co. are phenomenal retail partners that help bring the Darn Tough experience to life on race day." Strategic Insight: "We have always put our retailers first," says Kreis. "Most importantly, 46 • Footwear Insight ~ September/October 2022 footwearinsight.com The Camden sneaker is a best-seller for Ara. Darn Tough Vermont is excited about its run category initiatives. POWER IN PARTNERSHIP

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