Footwear Manufacturers
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 200 footwear manufacturers in the US design and market their own products, but may also contract to produce footwear for outside designers. Products include dress and casual shoes, athletic shoes and cleats, industrial shoes, sandals, boots, ballet slippers, house slippers, and orthopedic shoes.
Changes in Fashion
Consumer interest in shoes can be fickle with styles changing and falling out of favor within seasons or a few years.
Global Competition
Imports dominate the US footwear market, accounting for 99% of sales.
Industry size & Structure
The average footwear manufacturer operates a single location, employs 46 workers, and generates about $8 million in annual revenue.
- The footwear manufacturing industry consists of about 200 companies that employ 9,200 workers and generate $1.6 billion in annual revenue.
- 44% of footwear manufacturers have fewer than 5 employees, while the 10 largest firms have over 500 employees.
- The industry is highly concentrated: the 8 largest companies account for 60% of industry revenue.
- The states with the largest number of footwear manufacturing facilities are Texas, California, New York and Maine.
- Companies with domestic manufacturing operations include San Antonio Shoemakers (SAS), Modern Vice, Red Wing Shoe Company, Minnetonka, MacNeill Engineering (Champ brand), and Wolverine.
- Companies may have foreign operations or contract production to foreign manufacturers. Crocs sources its production from licensed manufacturers in Asia. Sketchers designs and markets footwear, but contracts the actual manufacturing to foreign producers, primarily in Asia.
Industry Forecast
Footwear Manufacturers Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Nov 12, 2024 - Manufacturing Activity Contracts, Wages Up
- US manufacturing activity contracted in October 2024, marking the lowest Manufacturing PMI registered in 2024, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The Manufacturing PMI registered 46.5% in October, down 0.7 percentage points from the 47.2% recorded in September. A reading above 50% indicates manufacturing expansion. Manufacturing industries reporting growth in October were Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Petroleum & Coal Products; Computer & Electronic Products; and Miscellaneous Manufacturing. Employment by manufacturing companies fell 0.4% in October compared to a year ago, and average wages for nonsupervisory employees rose 5.6% to $28.17 per hour during the period, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Footwear manufacturer Steve Madden has announced it is significantly reducing its production in China, to adjust to the estimated impact of president-elect Donald Trump’s tariff proposals, according to CEO Today magazine. Trump has proposed universal 10-20% tariff on imports from all countries and an additional tax on imports from China. Steve Madden’s CEO Edward Rosenfeld said the company has been preparing for the potential scenario by creating a wider network of manufacturing partners since China currently accounts for about 70% of Steven Madden’s imports. The company said it expects to reduce its sourcing from China to between 40% to 45% by the end of 2025, in order to stay competitive in the shifting landscape of tariffs and international trade. Steven Madden has said it is looking to other countries with more favorable conditions for manufacturing and is not considering moving back to the US. Per Rosenfeld, “We are not considering bringing production back to the U.S. The costs just don’t make sense for us or the industry." According to a report from the National Retail Federation, the cost of a $50 pair of sneakers could rise from $59 to $64 if the proposed tariffs go into effect.
- Footwear prices fell for the first time in a year in August 2024, declining 0.9% year over year, according to data from the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) in Footwear News. Women’s shoe prices decreased 2.4% in August 2024 year over year, and prices for children’s shoes were down 2.6% during the same period. These declines offset an increase of 2.2% in men’s retail footwear. Year to date, overall retail footwear prices are up 0.7%, the same as the first eight months of 2023, according to Gary Raines, a chief economist at the FDRA, in the Footwear News report. By segment, men’s and women’s footwear prices were up 2.2% and 0.6%, respectively, year to date, while children’s footwear prices were down 1.4%.
- Discounts are not expected to drive footwear sales during the back-to-school shopping season, as pandemic-driven volatility in promotion activity levels out, according to a recent report from Circana. After two years of volatility, the percentage of footwear units sold on promotion returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2023. Footwear promotional effectiveness also declined in Q1 2024. According to Circana’s Future of Footwear study, consumers say the top factors influencing their purchases for kids and teens are quality, price, and child or teen requests. Despite early brand and retailer promotions, back-to-school footwear purchases are expected to peak close to the start of school.
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