Will Boots Boost Fall Biz? Here’s What Caleres, Genesco and Designer Brands Expect

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Over the last few years, some brands and retailers have reported a stagnation in the boot category. This season, certain styles such as wide and tall boots could drive more demand.

In their earnings calls from this past quarter, executives from Genesco, Designer Brands Inc. and Caleres discussed how they expect the fall boot season to play out — and what styles they anticipate will continue to fuel consumer spending.

At Designer Brands Inc ., penetration in dress and seasonal footwear has declined from close to 60 percent in 2017 to about 49 percent today. As such, the company said it expects boots sales to be down in the double digits compared to the prior year as seasonal and dress penetration continues to shrink.

However, while boot sales at the retailer are in general decline, DBI chief financial officer Jared Poff said in Wednesday call with analysts that wide calf and oversized boots are seeing wins compared to styles in the rest of the category.

“In those particular areas, we are finding some opportunities for wins while still being relatively conservative from overall growth,” Poff said.

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Caleres also called out wide calf and tall shaft boots that are performing well, particularly in the Naturalizer and Sam Edelman brands.

“It seems like the consumer is interested in new fall and is out shopping and we’re in a position to address that,” Jay Schmidt, president and chief executive officer of Caleres, said in a call with analysts this week.

While the boot season has been generally challenged at Caleres in recent years, the company expects sales of tall boots to be up slightly in the back half of the year within its brand portfolio sales. Short boots, on the other hand, are expected to be down slightly. At Famous Footwear, boots only represent about 14 percent of sales in the fall season but the category is already seeing early wins in the cozy boot category, Schmidt said.

At Genesco, the boot category has declined in the last few years, but executives said that strong early reads from back-to-school sales were in part driven by boot sales this season. Chief executive officer and board chair Mimi Vaughn called out some “green shoots” that could continue to get traction moving forward and said people are opting for more diverse styles outside of their typical season windows.

“In the boot category, in particular, it seems like consumers have gone more to seasonless styles,” said Vaughn in a call with analysts. “Whereas they used to shift to sandals in summer, wear athletic year round and then boots in the winter, now it seems like there’s more carry-through of product.”

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