Footwear Insight

28 • Footwear Insight ~ March/April 2018 footwearinsight.com cold at the moment in Asheville) for the opened-up webbing styles to have really gained momentum. Sandals both flat and heeled from Alegria, Taos, Vionic and Dansko are driving the first consumer buys into warm-weather footwear at Chandler's Walk Shoppe in Salt Lake City, according to owner Skip Chandler. Coupled with an increased focus on digital marketing – across Facebook, Instagram and the store's website – Chandler says the goal is to bring a younger customer in the door. Dillon Dardano, manager of Dardano's Shoes in Denver, CO, says sporty "functional lifestyle" looks from Chaco and Teva are picking up — but dressier styles like slides, mules and even backless sneakers are gaining traction, too, especially when they offer a pop of color or come in the season's on-trend blush shades. But store owners say they aren't relying solely on product to get consumers in store and into new styles. Frequent refreshes of the store environments, more frequent deliveries and more in-store events to highlight new looks are all critical to make sure shoppers are coming in instead of shopping online. Shoe Mill is highlighting the new and off- the-beaten path styles the buying team has sourced, Habre says. "The general feeling among the buying public is they want to be shopping physically when they're looking for products that are new, fresh and exciting," he says. To tap into that, Habre says his stores made a point of scheduling smaller and more frequent deliveries for the season. "Front-loading a season and having it delivered as it has been customarily isn't working as well. Having fresh new items arriving on the regular keeps the flow of excitement in the stores, from customers and the staff themselves. We want it to be like a new present every day." Adding new finds is a critical initiative for Benjamin Lovell, too, Holden agrees. "We're honing in on who our great partners are and expanding with them," he says. "But more and more we're bringing in things that are unique to our mix, things we're finding in Europe. We're trying to find brands that aren't everywhere, and then we don't have to compete as much with Amazon and others online." Behind the scenes, store owners say they are rethinking the number of brands they carry at both ends of the spectrum. Tops for Shoes' Carr says he is scouting new additions. "We're always looking every season to add a new brand, or really, add five or six brands," Carr says. "It means our customer is always seeing something new and fresh." Peter Mohr, president of the three Shoetopia stores in southern Ontario, Canada, says he is taking the opposite approach — pruning his brand list is a major initiative for 2018, including the just- wrapped buy for the fall season. "Our goal was to take our brand count down by 20 percent [for our Fall '18 buy]," he says. "We probably didn't get it down to 20 percent but we did take it down by 15 percent and what that means for me is that we can be a bigger player with the existing brands we play in and we'll have more power with them and have a better partnership." Of course, across the board, retailers say one of the most critical factors for the season is one they control: the arrival of truly great weather. "If you're in an area that has winter, that first beautiful day, there's a mindset shift," Mohr says. "There's no better advertisement than having the weather cooperate." O "We're always looking every season to add a new brand, or really, add five or six brands. It means our customer is always seeing something new and fresh." Alex Carr, Tops for Shoes RETAIL REPORT Chaco Z/Cloud X2 Remix, above; Taos Top Star Bordeaux Distressed, below. e . in at ps et a d br n . W e i W nd say thin e fi g fresh n keeps the st it it gr ur h th e'r o ou ding in Europe. h d tor an re r rr x an i stor mselves. nt every da r Ho w ndin re and rs ut mo W er r rk e a W r k i g fin ers s, sto e nu d nkin he i s, an d zo h ta w ng ja 'r rs "B g t o en ik o s th rt s. ng nd o rk ri xc n k ma hon e an or t a we're findin d b made mor ason t de w we Ama c arr ex rr wo wor ar r w adin t has b ell. Hav the regu in the th "Fro vered a king as w ving on ment w n t t w as i we ont as it ont-loa oa requ l . ive k th t i we h wel it h oa h ad on eli n. iv n. iv n "F "F n liv rk n son. l rk he n th h "Front-loa ered as it ing as w g on nt e r ll. e h Ha has n. Front-loadi d . " iv t h we it h a k n on de li fo par i "We We " or Be W r or Be Add B r ke A k r o k f es ne , ot th d en en nd ng t ce ing c en g an sc kin i n e nk b ki k h nk nk ot the he ot fo hin thi b s t at b at th et w fin ul ng ched

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