When you assume inflation means shops are dropping costs to win customers again, assume once more. One among America’s historic footwear large is definitely betting on higher-priced merchandise, and shutting shops at your native malls.
The best way we purchase footwear has radically remodeled. Stiff costume footwear have been changed by versatile consolation, in line with the US Males’s and Ladies’s Footwear Market Report. However maintaining with altering trend traits is not the toughest a part of the sport.
Right this moment, legacy retailers face intense stress from tariffs, inflation, and shifting shopper preferences. As McKinsey and Firm’s The State of Trend 2026 report notes, new US tariffs have utterly “redrawn commerce maps,” forcing manufacturers to quickly reconstruct provide chains on the fly.
People spent $121 billion on footwear final yr, importing six pairs of footwear per individual, in line with the FDRA. But one of many nation’s greatest shoe retailers, Caleres, the powerhouse behind Well-known Footwear, Sam Edelman, and Stuart Weitzman, says its reasonably priced enterprise is slowing whereas demand for premium manufacturers surges.
Inflation-pressured customers are dropping mall impulse buys to prioritize private well-being, well being, and longevity, in line with McKinsey. This shift is prompting many footwear retailers to rethink each retailer fleets and product methods.
I lately reported about Genesco (the powerhouse behind Journeys) quietly shuttering 202 shops between 2023 and mid-2026. Then, there’s Freebird’s pull again, Foot Locker, which closed a whole lot of Champs areas, and JD Sports activities that introduced the structural winding down of 175 Hibbett shops.
Now, Caleres has joined the checklist, aggressively adapting to shifting shopper conduct.
Caleres closed 82 shops over the past 4 years, because it bets on premium footwear. Bloomberg / Getty Pictures
Caleres closed 82 shops over the past 4 years
A worldwide footwear powerhouse with a various portfolio of well-liked manufacturers, Caleres, lately reported its first quarter earnings outcomes, revealing a internet gross sales improve of 8.5% year-over-year reaching $666.6 million.
Importantly, whereas the premium model portfolio noticed internet gross sales improve 20.6% year-over-year, the corporate’s extra reasonably priced phase Well-known Footwear skilled a internet gross sales decline of two.5%.
Through the quarter, the corporate closed 10 Well-known Footwear retailer areas and opened one, ending the quarter with 812 shops.
On the finish of 2021, Well-known Footwear phase operated 894 shops, in line with the corporate’s Kind 10-Okay submitting with the Securities and Trade Fee. Because of this Caleres has closed 82 shops over the interval of 4 years and three months, averaging round 19 retailer closures per yr.
Why has Caleres been closing shops?
Trying on the firm’s uncooked earnings numbers, it may be noticed that whereas the corporate’s model gross sales have grown considerably, its Well-known Footwear internet gross sales have been declining, together with Well-known Footwear comparable gross sales.
Caleres explicitly famous that its luxurious and premium manufacturers segments, resembling Stuart Weitzman and Sam Edelman are seeing robust development, whereas a extra reasonably priced chain is struggling on account of accelerated inflation squeezing on a regular basis customers.
“Whereas we noticed bettering traits main into Easter, we imagine accelerated inflation put stress on shopper site visitors and gross sales, particularly as we moved into April,” stated President and Chief Govt Officer of Caleres, John Schmidt, throughout the earnings name.
Nonetheless, it is very important notice that whereas Caleres plans one other 5 retailer closures this fiscal yr, it additionally plans to open one other 12 shops, which might then lead to a internet decline of solely 3 shops for the yr. So, what’s behind this closing and opening technique?
Caleres bets on premium merchandise
To offset the decline within the reasonably priced phase, Caleres is now doubling down on its “elevate-and-edit technique,” which has seen highly effective development.
The so-called elevate-and-edit technique is Well-known Footwear’s initiative to extend the assortment and gross sales of premium, trend-forward manufacturers and merchandise, shifting away from lower-margin worth classes — a method that seems to be figuring out.
“Our Elevate-and-Edit technique continues to resonate with our Well-known customers. Gross sales of Elevated merchandise elevated practically 50% within the quarter and penetration reached nearly 20% year-over-year. We noticed development within the quarter from Jordan, Skechers, Birkenstock, New Steadiness, Reef and Brooks, whereas a number of manufacturers within the Caleres portfolio completed amongst Well-known’ prime 15 best-selling manufacturers,” added Schmidt.
The manufacturers most customers don’t know Caleres owns
Caleres, based 148 years in the past, is the powerhouse behind a number of well-liked manufacturers. The truth is, “manufacturers are a significant strategic lever for Caleres,” writes Umbrex. Why? As a result of the corporate’s best energy is just not solely in promoting footwear, however in providing consumer-facing footwear manufacturers throughout varied costs and makes use of.
Caleres’ key manufacturers:
Well-known Footwear: A prime informal and athletic model for the entire household, constructed round comfort, worth, and repeat purchasing.
Sam Edelman: One among Caleres’s most essential trend manufacturers, offering accessible luxurious ladies’s footwear with stylish enchantment.
Allen Edmonds: A heritage premium males’s model recognized for top of the range, handcrafted American footwear for males.
Stuart Weitzman: The worldwide luxurious model that includes artisanal craftsmanship with exact engineering.
Naturalizer: A ladies’s footwear model with a protracted heritage and a positioning that blends consolation and elegance.
Vionic: A consolation and wellness-oriented model with enchantment to customers who prioritize assist and on a regular basis put on.
Blowfish Malibu: A extra informal and value-oriented model, particularly related in on a regular basis ladies’s footwear.
Dr. Scholl’s Sneakers and LifeStride. Manufacturers related to consolation, informal put on, and sensible on a regular basis footwear. Sources: Caleres, Umbrex
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What Caleres’ new technique means for the corporate and customers
Retail analysts more and more view retailer closures as a manner to enhance profitability reasonably than an indication of imminent hassle. Analysis from Placer.ai notes that chains typically scale back areas once they can attain the identical prospects extra effectively by way of a smaller footprint and digital channels.
Neil Saunders, Managing Director and Retail Analyst at GlobalData Retail, has repeatedly argued that retailer closures are sometimes optimization reasonably than collapse.
“Retailer closures are usually not all that uncommon” and are usually not essentially proof of a “retail apocalypse,” Saunders stated.
For customers, the extra important shift is probably not the shop closures themselves, however Caleres’ rising deal with premium footwear.
The corporate is more and more emphasizing premium manufacturers and higher-priced merchandise, together with Jordan, Birkenstock, Brooks, New Steadiness, and Skechers. On the similar time, administration expects Well-known Footwear gross sales and comparable gross sales to say no this yr whilst its premium model portfolio continues to develop.
Consequently, customers might see:
Extra shelf house dedicated to premium footwear.
Continued closure of underperforming areas as the corporate refines its retailer fleet.
Better funding in on-line and direct-to-consumer purchasing.
Much less emphasis on lower-priced classes as administration pursues higher-margin merchandise.
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