Footwear Insight

our current retailers. We are in an incredible position in that WE ARE THE MILL. We design and manufacture all our socks right here in Northfield, Vermont. We have complete control over the process so can adjust as the landscape changes — which is a constant these days." When retailers were "starved for inventory," Darn Tough was able to ramp up production and fill those requests, notes Kreis. "We even shut off setting up new retail accounts so that we could focus solely on filling our current retailer's orders. As we are seeing the other side of that coin, we are now able to level out production and we have started opening new dealers again. Having complete control over our production and our output, we can quickly react to a change in consumer behavior. Our main goal is always to support our retailers who got us here and being able to quickly accommodate their ever-changing needs in this every-changing climate has been our focus, especially over the past few years." FEETURES "We are constantly looking for opportunities to provide our specialty retail partners with new products that service the needs of their existing customers," says Joe Gaither, chief marketing officer, Feetures. Product Highlight: e sock brand noticed in recent years that many independent footwear retailers were selling running footwear to customers that weren't necessarily "runners." Notes Gaither, "e customer seemed more interested in functional footwear with an athletic look, such as athleisure. We noted that a lot of these customers wanted an invisible sock look and many of them were currently buying our Everyday Invisible, but that sock had a decidedly comfort/casual footwear style and wasn't specifically engineered for a running shoe. We identified what we thought was a white space. So, we set out to design an invisible sock for athletic footwear that could even be used for running." To engineer an invisible sock that wouldn't slip during a run, Feetures needed to do more than just repurpose its Everyday Invisible, Gaither says. "Our designers started with the very fabric we were using," he explains. "Instead of a so plusher spun polyester that we knit in our Everyday design, they employed a lighter performance fiber using our iWick Microfiber Nylon and adding a mesh zone to enhance breathability. Next, they added some height to the front and back of the silhouette. Since running shoes were not as low cut as casual footwear, the sock could be higher, but remain hidden, and the extra sock would protect the foot and keep the sock in place. ey then enhanced our silicone heel gripper technology with added gripper tape. All of this, combined with our signature anatomical design and Targeted Compression, created a true no show, no slip sock, which we came to call our Elite Invisible. ere is nothing like it in the market today. It will be part of our Active line and retails for $18." Feetures has pre-booked orders from many of its independent retailers and it will begin shipping in January for a Spring 2023 launch, says Gaither. "Retailers will now be able to offer something new to their athleisure customer that they've never had before," he says. "We are extremely excited for the launch of this new type of no show sock." Strategic Insight: "We put the independent specialty retail channel at the core of our sales strategy," says Gaither. "We know that the independent retailer and staff associate can be powerful brand ambassadors that have the influence to expand our audience day-in and day-out. We recognize that footwear is the primary focus for our retail partners because footwear sales drive their business. Since we occupy a secondary category, we know we need to be easy to work with. erefore, we try to never be out of stock of core sizes and styles, and we endeavor to ship orders out within 24 hours of receiving them." Feetures offers simple booking programs that help the brand plan inventory, but also offer the retailer a good discount opportunity. Says Gaither, "We support stores with other high margin opportunities by supporting two seasonal promotions. Beyond this, we truly believe that retailers enhance their store experience by educating consumers about the benefits of performance socks. If they don't do this, they're doing the customer a disservice because the benefits of high-quality footwear can oen be mitigated by low-quality socks. Consequently, we try to help our retail partners educate their staff on how to sell socks and we provide them with try on socks at no charge to be used in the fitting process. If you can get a pair of fresh performance socks on someone's feet during the fitting process, you can almost always convert a sale." Feetures also encourages retailers to track their sock to shoe ratio to help evaluate their sock sales over a period of time and see how well they're doing. "Overall, our goal is to be considered not only the best partner in our category, we want to be considered one of their very best vendor partners all together," says Gaither. AETREX Aetrex, which launched its first scanning technology in 2002, makes a product that is designed to gives consumers a reason to shop at a brick-and-mortar store rather than 48 • Footwear Insight ~ September/October 2022 footwearinsight.com Aetrex Albert 2 Feetures Elite Invisible POWER IN PARTNERSHIP

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