A report from Yahoo Finance on August 27, 2024, reveals that Clarks, the iconic British footwear brand, is closing its stores in India due to "differences over terms" with its local partner, Reliance Retail.This unexpected development underscores the critical importance of aligning with local partners and effectively m ...more

Rapid Expansion BackfiresDrip Footwear, a once-promising South African sneaker brand, is facing a severe financial crisis that has sparked intense scrutiny and debate. The company’s rapid expansion into shopping malls has backfired spectacularly, leaving it with a R20 million debt, a foreign exchange blunder, and the looming threat ...more

Port Elizabeth, E. Cape, SA – What we hear is that both Nike and Adidas are losing sales internationally.Here, however, we’re affected by Nike’s Springbok sponsorship deal – as a sports shop, we can’t get a single Springbok rugby jersey or replica shirt. We couldn’t get them during the World Cup, we cou ...more

Birkenstock’s recent performance is impressive. Some key financial highlights for the three months ended March 31, 2024, compared to the three months ended March 31, 2023, include:* Revenue of €481.2 million, representing an increase of 23%.* Strong double-digit revenue growth across all segments, including reven ...more

A Story of Growth and TransformationHoka, founded in 2009 in France and acquired by Deckers Brands in 2013, has revolutionized the athletic footwear market with its signature “maximalist” shoes featuring oversized midsoles. Its annual sales for the year ending March 31, 2024, reached $1.807 billion, a 27.9% surge, showcasing i ...more

Despite gloomy forecasts, research points to brighter prospects for Africa's fashion industry, driven by anticipated population growth. Contrary to what I thought before, it seems the secret does not lie in choosing better leaders but in having more babies :) ...more

23 August 2023 – TikTok, the popular short-video app owned by China’s ByteDance Ltd., is rapidly growing its TikTok Shop feature in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, where it has found success as a livestreamed marketplace for in-app shopping. The platform’s success in this region is crucial, as it faces potenti ...more

In a tragic turn of events, Laura Ann Carleton, a California store owner, was fatally shot amidst a dispute concerning an LGBTQ+ Pride flag displayed outside her shop. According to The Guardian, Carleton, aged 66, lost her life after a confrontation at her clothing store on August 18, 2023.During the altercation, a male suspect repor ...more

USA Newspapers were abuzz on May 23, 2023, when reports surfaced that Target, a prominent retailer, promptly removed certain LGBTQ merchandise from its stores due to significant customer backlash. Target had previously introduced its Pride Collection, an initiative aimed at celebrating inclusivity. However, confrontations between customer ...more

Friday, 16 June, is SA’s last public holiday until August, and a long weekend to boot. We asked an assortment of retailers whether they anticipated an upswing in trade and whether they had made any special preparations. Anca Facauaru, proprietor, Anca ShoesKempton Park, Gauteng, SA - Things are very quiet, with people not having mon ...more

Muhammad Laher, Bombay’s of Nigel/Sports FusionNigel, Gauteng, SA - This has been the toughest start to the year for many years. There are many issues, including of course load shedding and the rising costs of essential products.      That is reflected in the spending patterns in apparel - our school we ...more

Jerry Robins, Elegant ManMatatiele, Mt Ayliff and Mthatha (E. Cape), Kokstad (KZN), SA - Temperatures are down and winter is on its way but we hope that business will warm up.      Times are tough … we are now competing with 25+ new stores post lockdown in our small little town.Nationals and chains hav ...more

Omar Hassim, Shoe BizBulawayo, Zimbabwe  – The relative stability of the Zim Dollar over the last 6 months has had a positive effect of stabilizing prices and an overall positive effect on trading over the last quarter. December sales have been fairly good up to now and hopefully those dark dreary days of the previous ...more

Tinashe Mandirahwe, former owner of Cathula Sandals in Harare, Zimbabwe, now a Canadian businessman and retail analyst, writes an occasional article for S&V on some aspect of the footwear business. Here he discusses a subject we know well.The theft problem I used to deal with almost daily when I was running Cathula Sandals in Africa i ...more

In a petition put out yesterday by 'change.org, The world's platform for change', (https://www.change.org/), South African consumer Tilla Victor wrote:       Do you know the frustration?      You need shoes for work, a wedding or a hiking trip.       ...more

BoardridersDurban, KZN, SA  – "A lot of retailers have told me they didn't have a good Black Friday," said Boardriders sales and marketing manager Dane Patterson. "We had a fantastic period."      "Boardriders opened Black Friday to Boardriders Club members from Friday 18th ...more

We asked 35 retailers - mostly privately owned chains and mini-chains - across SA, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini and Zimbabwe - for a 1-sentence comment on Black Friday. Just 10 responded, 1 whose response is under They Said It, 1 to promise a response later today, 1 to say 'no comment', and another to say he didn't offer it. ...more

Cape Town, W. Cape, SA - It's Black Friday on Friday. This American concept only arrived in SA in 2014, and has been viewed with mixed feelings by local retailers. We asked Michael Lawrence, executive director of the National Clothing Retail Federation, how enthusiastic his chain members were about Black Friday, and whether it had a negat ...more

Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA – The foot count in the Oriental Plaza, Fordsburg, is up, which is an indicator of improved trading, said M.H. Abdulla, member of men's lifestyle outfitter Casual Affair.      "It's not going to be like the old days, pre-Covid, but business is definitely up on last ye ...more

Bedfordview, Gauteng, SA - Retailers specialising in weddings and matric dances were among the worst hit by lockdowns, but for those who survived, there has been a complete turnaround, says Liz de Freitas, owner of Glam & Glitz.      "It started picking up in September last year," she said. &quo ...more

Iqbal Hajat, Director, Footwear Centre Ltd, in Blantyre, Malawi, answers our questions.Month-by-month, how trading this year has compared with last year AND pre-covid.Generally, we are seeing approximately 20% increase in sales value over last year, but this does not mean we are doing a higher volume of sales; rather it could be due to th ...more

Consumers are increasingly turning towards online retailers to buy apparel. In China, e-commerce now accounts for over one quarter of all non-food retailing. How can brands succeed in this competitive market? It would be wrong to think the 2020 pandemic caused consumers to shift their shopping habits away from ‘bricks and mortar&rsq ...more

There was a time, not too long ago, when footwear retailers, wholesalers, importers and manufacturers around the globe could rely on the certainty that their specific skills would see them through for time to come. Market forces were relatively simple and could be dealt with effectively. ...more

Retailability's decision to relocate Edgars' head office in December from Johannesburg to Durban was contrary to a promise made to staff and has left about 60% Edgars' merchandise staff without employment, sources said on condition of anonymity.      In the case of the footwear department, it is understood th ...more

Cape Town, W Cape, SA – Any apparel retailer can sell any item of apparel, all apparel retailers are allowed to have all members of staff at work, and the only restrictions now are hygiene - masks, sanitizers and social distancing. That's the situation as of today as far as the National Clothing Retailers' Federation understand ...more

Cape Town, W Cape, SA – Different lockdown levels in different parts of the country from the end of May, "could lead to some really odd situations", National Clothing Retail Federation of SA executive director Michael Lawrence said on Friday. "However, [the National Corivavirus Command Council] has given itself ...more

Germiston, Gauteng, SA – On 1 May when retail level 4 was unlocked there was frenzy in the malls.  Customers were walking around with 4 to 5 bags of purchases from all retailers, revealing that winter purchases had not yet been made. People were also wanting to get out and so there were many feet in the malls. The  result ...more

Germiston, Gauteng, SA – Unfortunately under Section/phase 4 of the lockdown restrictions, Frasers stores are not allowed to trade and we are only doing sales through our online channels. When we open - hopefully by Friday we will receive positive news - we will have a clearer view of how the travel restrictions globally, as well a ...more

Germiston, Gauteng, SA – Since restarting earlier this month, the first week started off with a good buzz, with customers eager to shop after the long recess of lockdown with all clothing stores closed. The past 2 weeks have been slow to quiet. We are far off from our usual trading patterns.        ...more

Baxter's: A good start, now back to 'normal'Vanderbijlpark, Gauteng, SA – The first week was very busy, from Monday to Friday. Now it has slowed down to more-or-less what it was in March.       Observing the regulations has been straightforward because I don't get lots of people coming to the store at the same ti ...more

A.P. Jones: A slow trickle, and glad of itFish Hoek, W Cape, SA – It has been a slow trickle since last Saturday. We are extremely fortunate in that we do have a slow trickle. There are so many businesses out there who have not been able to open and we feel for them. I think that it is all going to be about expectation (or the lack ...more

From today, the leather and footwear sectors, and their suppliers, may resume limited business, from manufacturing to retail, subject to various safety measures. Subject to clarification, it appears that ANY closed footwear qualifies. So far, no mention has been made of leather goods.       In Government ...more

Cape Town, W Cape, SA – Following the announcement that the manufacture and retail of 'winter clothing' will be allowed from May 1, a Government Gazette spelling out the conditions is expected to be published this week.       "We're busy writing a lot of motivations and product lists wh ...more

Talks around local sourcing also to continueCape Town, W Cape, SA – Chain retailers are expecting "some relief" from government in terms of a resumption of trade, and the National Clothing Retail Federation of SA is suggesting models which would allow that without compromising the health measures of the lockdown, ex ...more

Wholesaler/retailer London Shoes has 4 stores in the Western Cape, each with a different landlord, and each has reacted differently, director Maon Saxe said.       "Landlord 1 is Redefine," he said, "and they've been excellent. Before the lockdown was extended, they offered a 70% discount ...more

"This last week has been good, except today, which has been absolutely dead, although Saturdays are normally busy. It's been good since the beginning of the month, but the year as a whole has been about 20% down. We're promoting ourselves through social media, and we've created a website. We wanted to try online retail, but the time ...more

"We did a bit better this week, partly because it's the end of the month, and partly because it's looking a bit brighter. It's been a tough year." - Zoonate Alli, partner, G. Nabee & Co., Lichtenburg, NW Province, SA. Independent, 2 stores, family outfitter."Friday was reasonably busy, today has been quiet, although we ...more

"This last week has been pretty tough, but July and the first 2 weeks of August were good, which is normally the case. Our winter sale is the last week of July and the first week of August, but generally the momentum carries through to the end of August. We'll have to see whether it picks up next week again. May and June were tou ...more

"Not good. We're normally busy for about 4 days a month - from the 30th, when people get paid, and the first weekend after the 30th - usually the Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The rest of the month is quiet, with upturns over weekends." - Suliman Hajat, manager, First Stop Store, Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA. Independent, 1 ...more

"Thursday and Friday were quite good, today has been fairly quiet. Month end and beginning of the month are generally okay, but it's no more like it was. I've introduced hair braids and cosmetics to the business, and they are doing well." - Shehnaz Desai, manager, Fashion Feet, KwaDukuza, KZN, SA. Independent, 1 store, mainly wo ...more

"It's been okay, not too bad. The last 7 months have been tough, with weekends and month ends okay. Hopefully with Christmas coming up it will improve. We're giving it our best shot." - Sunil Valla, director, Famous Barr, Middelburg, Mpumalanga, SA. Independent, 3 stores, men's outfitter."It's been good. We've had quite a b ...more

"It's been very quiet. Ladybrand as a whole is very quiet since the South African border post has been forcing Lesotho residents - who are the majority of the shoppers here - to queue for several hours every time they want to enter SA. Previously, they got a 6 month stamp in their passports. Footwear isn't a big part of our business, ...more

"Very tough. The month started okay - not great, but good compared to what we've had - but last week and especially this week it has been very quiet." - Nazir Laher, proprietor, Elite Same Day Shoe Repairs, Johannesburg, Gauteng. Independent, 1 store, repairer and men's footwear retailer."A bit quiet. The year started very ...more

"It's quiet at the moment. People come in and take a look, but aren't buying much. Maybe it's the time of month. It's more-or-less the same as last year." - David Novos, manager, Economic Shoe Store, Paarl, W Cape, SA. Independent, 1 store, family footwear."The week overall has been quiet, but there has been a sudden burst ...more

"It's been a bit quiet because of school holidays - a lot of our clients go away. We're a destination store both on the shoe repair side, where we are known for quality repairs, and on the comfort footwear side, where we sell branded men's and women's footwear. Our business is more-or-less evenly split between those divisions. The ye ...more

"It's month end, so it's been a bit busier. More-or-less on par with last month, I'd say." - Zane Mitha, manager, Diski Sport Retailers, Tembisa, Gauteng, SA. Independent, 1 store, sports goods specialist."Nothing great. Much the same as last month. It looks like it will be a terrible year." - Ebrahim Docrat, member, D ...more

Cape Town (SA) – Triple M Group founders Marius and Sue Mostert sold the business to undisclosed buyers as of March 1, and have retired.        The wholesale division and retail brands Shoerama, Next Step and Shoeline fall under the umbrella of newly formed parent, Triple M Footwear Company.      ...more