FDRA Reports US Shoe Store Sales and Total Consumer Spending on Shoes Hit Record Highs – FDRA President Forecasts Continued Solid Growth for the Shoe Secto

For Immediate Release

September 14, 2018

Contact: Andy Polk (202-744-7453)

FDRA, the footwear industry’s business and trade association, analyzed recent government data (July just reported out) on the footwear marketplace against historical trends and found new record highs on shoe sales.

“Footwear retailers are moving from a state of disruption to transformation. The last half of 2017 was hard as total sales in shoe stores declined every month, but now we have seen increases for the past 4 months culminating in a record high,” said FDRA president and CEO Matt Priest.  “Consumer spending on footwear also continues to jump.  We couldn’t be pleased more for the industry. Retailers and brands have been working hard to innovate both product and experiences and it seems that is now showing through at the same time consumer sentiment is rising.  These latest numbers tell us the overall shoe store market will grow in 2018, against a narrative of the death of brick and mortar, and if the streak continues, total footwear spending could hit $85 billion this year.”

U.S. shoe store sales in July rocketed up 8.7% – the biggest jump in five years. At a seasonally-adjusted $3.18 billion, July marks the best month ever for shoe stores as they outpaced big box retailers. See attached chart.

The footwear industry is also now a record-high $84 billion industry. U.S. consumer spending on shoes in July – across all channels from eComm to brick and mortar – rose a year-over-year 5.6% (seasonally adjusted) to an annualized $83.9 billion.

Representing over 80% of the entire footwear industry, FDRA is the industry’s business and trade association. It’s members include the majority of U.S. footwear manufacturers, brands, retailers and importers to global footwear companies. Learn more about the footwear industry at FDRA.org