Footwear Manufacturers


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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 98% of sales.

Industry size & Structure

The average footwear manufacturer operates a single location, employs 56 workers, and generates about $9 million in annual revenue.

    • The footwear manufacturing industry consists of about 200 companies that employ 11,300 workers and generate $1.8 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 Gateway Shoes, San Antonio Shoemakers (SAS), Modern Vice, Minnetonka, Heyday, 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
                                  Source: Vertical IQ and Inforum

                                  Recent Developments

                                  Nov 9, 2022 - NRF: Holiday Spending to Hold Up Despite Inflation
                                  • Despite high inflation and rising interest rates, the National Retail Federation (NRF) expects consumer spending to remain resilient this holiday season. While the NRF acknowledges consumers are feeling the pinch of higher interest rates and inflation, it believes economic fundamentals – including job growth, rising wages, and savings accumulated during the pandemic - will sustain consumer spending. The NRF also points to US gross domestic product growth of 2.6% in the third quarter as evidence that the US economy hasn’t slipped into recession. The NRF forecasts holiday spending will rise between 6% and 8% over 2021 levels to reach between $942.6 billion and $960.4 billion. The outlook for 2022 is down from the 13.5% rise seen in 2021 but is better than the average 4.9% growth seen over the last decade.
                                  • Running experienced a surge in popularity during the pandemic and many footwear industry insiders believe participation will continue to grow, according to Footwear News. While many expect a looming recession would likely affect running shoe sales, the impact could be minimal. Industry insiders suggest the stress-management effects of running combined with the relatively low expense of new running shoes have made running recession-resistant during past economic downturns. Some running shoe retailers are still struggling with an overstock of inventory built up in the second half of 2021, and they are offering discounts to clear stocks and make room for newer, more innovative products.
                                  • Amid inflation, 38% of consumers said they plan to spend less on gifts this holiday season than last year, according to a survey by Morning Consult released in November. About 45% of shoppers said they planned to spend about the same as they spent in 2021. The most popular gift category is gift cards, with 56% of survey respondents saying they planned to give them. Gift cards are not as affected by inflation as goods and allow for greater control over spending. Other popular gifts include apparel (39% of gift buyers), toys (36%), money (33%), and holiday food and alcohol (29%).
                                  • In October, Nike announced changes to its terms-of-service to crack down on people who use automated ordering software, or bots, to purchase products on its website or apps, according to The Wall Street Journal. The move is an attempt to combat the use of technology to buy coveted items in bulk for the purpose of reselling them. Nike has long prohibited the practice of purchasing for the intent of resale but now will implement consequences for violating its policies, including restocking charges, refund declines, and account suspensions for customers the company suspects are purchasing items for the resale market.
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