Footwear Plus Magazine | June 2018

STEVE LAX ON UNIF YING NAOT WORLDWIDE

JUNE 2018

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TREND SPOTTING: BOW REGARDS

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WHY VOLUNTEERING IS THE NEW BLACK

J U N E 2 01 8 Caroline Diaco President/Group Publisher Greg Dutter Editorial Director Nancy Campbell Trevett McCandliss Creative Directors EDITORIAL Aleda Johnson Assistant Editor

On the cover: Easy Street metallic kitten heels, Suncoo knit sweater, Smarteez pleated skirt.

This page: bootie by Bill Blass, Manoush dress.

Emily Beckman Assistant Editor Kathy Passero Editor at Large Kirstin Koba Contributing Editor

Photography: Jamie Isaia; styling: Dani Morales; hair and makeup: Christina Nicole Errante; model: Bethany/Fenton Model Mgmt.

Melodie Jeng Marcy Swingle Contributing Photographers ADVERTISING/ PRODUCTION Jennifer Craig Associate Publisher Laurie Guptil Production Manager Bruce Sprague Circulation Director Mike Hoff Digital Director Ana Novikova Office Administration 9THREADS CORPORATE

PA G E

Xen Zapis Chairman

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Lee Zapis CEO Rich Bongorno Chief Financial Officer Debbie Grim Controller

F E AT U R E S

D E PA RT M E N T S

OFFICES ADVERTISING/EDITORIAL

10 The Power of One One company, one mindset, one vision: Steve Lax, chairman of Naot, is on a mission of worldwide unity. By Greg Dutter 16 Volunteer State Now a year-round initiative, Two Ten’s Footwear Cares community service platform continues to gain momentum and substance. By Greg Dutter

22 Bow Wow! Designers tie one on—anywhere and everywhere. By Aleda Johnson 24 Metallica!

Digging the silver and gold palette.

By Aleda Johnson 26 Meow!

Feisty and playful takes on kitten heels.

By Aleda Johnson

4 Editor’s Note 6 This Just In 8 Scene & Heard 20 A Note to My Younger Self 23 This Just In 36 Shoe Salon 38 What’s Selling 40 Last Word

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FOOTWEAR PLUS ™ (ISSN#1054-898X) The fashion magazine of the footwear industry is published monthly (except for bimonthly April/May and October/November editions) by Symphony Publishing NY, LLC, 36 Cooper Square, 4th fl., New York, NY, 10003-7118. The publishers of this magazine do not accept responsibility for statements made by their advertisers in business competition. Periodicals postage is paid in New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Subscription price for one year: $48.00 in the U.S. Rates oustide the U.S. are available upon request. Single copy price: $10.00. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to FOOTWEAR PLUS, P.O. Box 8548, Lowell, MA 01853-8548. Publisher not responsible for unsolicited articles or photos. Any photographs, artwork, manuscripts, editorial samples or merchandise sent for editorial consideration are sent at the sole risk of the sender. Symphony Publishing NY, LLC, will assume no responsibility for loss or damage. No portion of this issue may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. ©2008 by Symphony Publishing NY, LLC. Printed in the United States.

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ED ITOR’S NOTE

Did you know...

Go Deep WE LIVE IN an Insta world these days. Life gets summed up in tweets, posts, pics, (fleeting) Snapchat stories and texts littered with acronyms and emojis. The written word has taken a beating in this ever-accelerating rush to communicate, which is often led by visuals. Admittedly, less can be more. Brevity can be the soul of wit. But might we be missing out by cutting to the chase—and the video—all the time?

Granted, I’m a bit of an old soul. I like old music, movies and books.

Heck, I like actual books—the feel and smell of the paper—and I prefer not to fret about whether the device needs to be charged before I can read. And I often find people’s backgrounds as interesting as the reasons they make headlines. I regularly find myself scrolling through Wikipedia and IMDb, the internet movie database, reading about the actors in the movies I’m watching. I want to know where they came from and how they got their big break. The site’s “Did You Know?” section might be labeled trivia, but to a journalist like me it’s a key to a person’s past and their personality. Such asides and anecdotes provide the extra detail, color and substance that enrich the story and show you why it deserves to be told.

For example, I loved discovering a little-known aside about Rob Moehring: When he took struggling Washington Shoe Company over from his father and uncle back in the late ’80s, he had no choice but to set up shop in a mini-storage warehouse in Seattle. It was located above a methadone clinic and it shared hallways with homeless people who could get in from the rain and cold for $5 a night.

The facility also housed another little-known startup at the time: Pearl Jam! The band was on the fourth floor rehearsing regularly.

Those are just some of the background nuggets revealed in Moehring’s thoughtful and engaging “A Note to My Younger Self ” (p. 20). You won’t find them anywhere else.

I also loved learning about the family legacy of Steve Lax, chairman of Naot and subject of this issue’s Q&A (p. 10). He mentioned

that his mother, who recently passed away, was a Holocaust survivor who endured two death marches and captivity in Auschwitz. She is one reason he’s passionate about continuing his family’s legacy. He took a huge risk in acquiring Naot five years ago when he could have sailed comfortably into retirement. Rather than risk seeing all that he and his family had helped build crumble, Lax put up his family’s life savings and has since steadfastly worked to unify Naot on a worldwide scale. The effort involves mentoring the company’s next generation of leaders, including his daughter, Aylet, who recently took the helm of the U.S. division. It’s an inspiring story of perseverance and passion—and the little-known asides about Lax serving in the Israeli army, founding a kibbutz and being a cotton farmer before getting into the shoe business in a roundabout way truly bring his long, strange trip to life.

You’ll find plenty more captivating anecdotes and asides in the pages of this issue. Take, for example, Erica Kubersky, who founded vegan-only destination MooShoes with her sister Sara nearly 20 years ago. They have since expanded to Los Angeles and added a deli component to their New York location. In this month’s What’s Selling profile (p. 38), Kubersky discusses the community-first approach to retailing that has been key to their store’s longevity. As yet another interesting side note, both sisters met their future husbands through the store. Business can be tough and the sisters argue at times, but it has provided serendipitous benefits neither of them could have foreseen.

I hope you enjoy reading the stories in this issue as much as we have enjoyed writing them. While Footwear Plus is a magazine dedicated to covering the latest brands, products, trends and business strategies—all in stunning, award-winning visual glory—we also pride ourselves on digging a little deeper when it comes to reporting. Think of us as old school in an enriching, informative and entertaining way. We want our readers to really get to know the designers, buyers and brand builders behind the businesses that make our industry so vibrant and exciting. And, TBH and IMHO, you just can’t do that in a stream of acronyms or emojis.

Greg Dutter

Editorial Director

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THIS JUST IN

simplicity in tbilisi Elegance makes a stand in the Georgian capital— opening a front on the ugly sneakers rebellion.

Photography by Melodie Jeng

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SCENE & HEARD

Titan Taps Former Nine West Head as CEO LOS ANGELES-BASED Titan Industries, licensee of Badgley Mischka, Jewel Badgley Mischka, Splendid and French Connection, has gone the proven veteran exec route with the naming of Joel Oblonsky as its CEO. Oblonsky’s 20-plus years career in the footwear and accessory industries spans leadership positions that include (most recently) CEO of Nine West Group; president of Polo and Lauren Footwear brands and Lauren Accessories for Ralph Lauren Corporation; and president and COO of Two cups of joe: Joe Oblonsky Nina Footwear. (left) and Joe Ouaknine “It’s not every day that a Joel Oblonsky comes along,” says Ouaknine, chairman of Titan. “He’s the closest thing to who I am on earth, and I feel I hit the jackpot. This man will put us on a different level. I’m so glad to work with him and give him the ball to run with. He’ll score a lot of touchdowns, no doubt.”

Oblonsky’s proven track record in navigating complex business environments and making high-stake decisions using experiencebacked judgment and leadership is exactly what Ouaknine was looking for to lead Titan into its next growth phase. Specifically, Ouaknine cites the exec’s ability to establish, grow and transform footwear and accessory brands from start-up to top 10 in the industry as well as his skill at identifying merchandising trends and consistently exceeding growth, revenue and operational performance and profitability. “Joel excels in growing and managing top performing teams, overseeing those responsible for sales, merchandising, design, planning and operations, marketing and global manufacturing,” Ouaknine says.

“I’m thrilled to join a world class organization and team at Titan,” says Oblonsky. “The efficient operational acumen and strong footwear production capabilities have Titan primed for additional growth. The combination of proprietary brands and prestigious licenses create exciting opportunities and the ability to expand. I’m joining to offer strategic support and leadership strength to help facilitate accretive growth and profitability with Titan.”

Ouaknine says the addition of Oblonsky comes on the heels of a comprehensive company review done over the past several months, evaluating each brand in the portfolio and identifying where time and resources will be best spent. “We felt that it was in the best interest of our company to allocate our resources to larger-volume, higher-margin brands,” Ouaknine says. “We expect to continue to evaluate opportunities to further rationalize our portfolio and maximize value.”

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Reign Launches Shopping App

MANHATTAN-BASED SNEAKER boutique Reign is launching Reign Releases, a microsite and registration platform for limited-release sneakers.

It’s a way for the retailer to level the playing field for Big Apple sneaker fans by blocking bots and providing all products on a first-come, first-served basis.

Upcoming drops include a bevy of Adidas collaborations with Alexander Wang, Eric Emanuel, Pharrell Williams and Billionaire Boys Club.

“The microsite will improve selling by creating a footwear-only environment for our customers, and offer fair access to sneaker releases,” says Santino LoConte, founder and creative director.

The site allows for no online transactions. Once a customer is registered, they can order sneakers and pay for them in the flesh at Reign, which is located in the Meatpacking District. The site also allows Reign to branch out by showcasing its private label collection. “It will include strategic releases of our in-line products, collaborations and pre-order items,” LoConte says.

Inkkas Branching Out THAT’S 16,961 TREES planted and counting so far in 2018! Thanks to Inkkas’ OneShoeOneTree project, in partnership with Trees For The Future, for every pair purchased, the brand plants a tree. It’s part of Inkkas’ founding principles of fair trade, authenticity and social consciousness.

“Inkkas tells a story of global awareness and celebration,” says David Malino, director of U.S. distribution. “We pride ourselves on making shoes that aren’t the same as other brands by using unique prints, materials and inspirations.”

New for spring are Japanese Indigo, Folk Festival and Tropic Memphis stories as well as a collaboration with Star Wars dropping at the end of this month.

“We’re excited about the partnership with Disney/Star Wars,” Malino says.

“Our brand awareness is continuing to grow across the country.”

BY

GR EG

DU T TE R

June 2018

THE POWER OF ONE O n e c o m p a n y, one mindset, one vision: Steve Lax, chairman of Naot, is on a mission o f w o r l d w i d e u n i t y.

A B O U T F I V E Y E A R S ago, just before Steve Lax put up nearly his entire life savings to buy Naot—including its 2,000-person factory in northern Israel and the oversight of various distributorships around the world—the veteran footwear exec was thinking about retiring rather than acquiring. Lax was marking almost a quarter century as CEO of Yaleet, Naot’s United States distributor and top-ranked market. He could head off into the sunset successfully. He didn’t need the headaches that come with ownership, especially of a company in as much turmoil as Naot was. The minority owners had been in

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a knockdown, drag-out fight over the direction of the business. It was so bad that the CEO, a longtime friend of Lax’s, called with an ultimatum: “Steve, if you don’t buy the company now, 2,000 people in Israel are going to lose their jobs in three months.”

Lax loved the company, the product, the distributorship he had built and, most of all, the workers who helped make it all happen. The thought of it going up in smoke was disheartening, to say the least. But Lax had no guarantee that he’d be able to fix the internal problems if he bought the company. And even if he could, new problems would inevitably arise. This is the shoe business, after all. Lax was torn: Try to save the company or exit stage left? Then his wife, confidante and business partner, Susie, offered a bit of sage advice: “At the end of your life, you don’t take your money with you; you take your good name.”

Lax decided against the exit strategy, though

his decision runs counter to current wisdom in the business world. “The first thing any accountant or lawyer asks when you’re planning to buy something is, ‘What’s your exit strategy?’” he says. “That’s the common denominator in business today, and it’s horrific because it means there’s no continuity or loyalty. People are just in it for a quick buck, to get in and out fast.” In contrast, Lax says his acquisition of Naot is all about the long term. His goal is to fix the internal problems, unify the company worldwide and groom its next generation of leaders. Lax’s daughter, Aylet, has been named CEO of the U.S. division while Lax himself assumes an active role as chairman overseeing the entire company.

“We are changing the company to make sure it’s run as the same brand worldwide.

Previously it was a bunch of subsidiaries sharing the brand, all with different perceptions of it,” Lax explains. “We’re rebranding so that we’re known as Naot worldwide. Yaleet will be doing business as Naot USA.” Initial efforts to unify the product line and image have already paid off. “It’s helped us to become more successful in Canada,” Lax says.

“They had a very orthopedic look to the line, as did Australia, whereas here we’ve gone more

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into a fashion direction that is still comfort, and it’s worked very well for us.” There was some resistance at first, but now that distributors see the sales increases, they’re embracing the new approach. “We’re still sensitive to the fact that every market has its own tastes and needs, but we have a worldwide vision of what we should be doing,” he says. Such a unified vision is a must if Naot is going to compete and continue to be aggressive, he says. “It saves on waste and energy, and it will help us reach the next level as a company,” Lax says.

Of course, challenges have arisen in Naot’s efforts to grow. For starters, the retail environment has been no picnic lately. Millions of Millennial and Generation Z consumers are changing the way the world shops, led by a “less is more” approach to consumerism.

“The last five years haven’t been an easy market, at all,” Lax says.

“We haven’t grown the way we wanted to, but we’ve succeeded in an incredibly good way. It’s like we’re working twice as hard to do the same.”

In fact, if he’d known how hard the past five years were going to be, Lax admits that he might have opted for retirement. It’s one thing to compete against other companies and deal with economic challenges, but Naot’s internal issues proved more taxing than anything else.

The minority owners had been practicing a scorched earth policy to get their way. Making matters worse was that, in the rush to purchase the company, due diligence took a back seat.

The German distributor was bankrupt, the Canadian distributor was nearly as bad off and the Australian distributor decided to retire soon after the deal was signed. Those unforeseen and costly issues had to be fixed ASAP. “We were trying to help, but we were a little naive with people who were selfish and nasty,” Lax says, noting that he would never put his wife and family through such an ordeal again.

But the acrimony is fading as Naot unifies under the Lax family’s majority ownership. The future looks brighter, despite the troubled market and 12 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2018

a world of unrest. Lax, who hails from a line of entrepreneurs, is an optimist under his veneer of pessimism. He’ll often lament that the world seems like a lost cause, yet he presses forward, acting in the interest of his employees, retail partners, customers and those less fortunate through the company’s philanthropic programs.

He believes every day presents an opportunity to make the world a better place, and it starts

shipped 10,000 pairs to Puerto Rico as part of hurricane relief efforts. “That’s my favorite part of the business, and now it’s what this company is all about: trying to make the world a better place.” For Lax personally, it’s also about leaving a meaningful legacy—what he considers the mark of a successful life. His mother, who recently passed away, was a Holocaust survivor who had seen the best and worst of humanity.

OFF THE CUFF What are you reading?

A series of books about Elizabethan England. I like historical novels.

If you could hire anybody, who would it be? My youngest daughter, because she knows more about how to create a brand online than anyone I know. But she’s an Emmy-winning journalist and loves what she does.

What is the smartest business decision you’ve ever made?

Taking Naot on as a distributor in 1989. I was importing and exporting terrible leather jackets, but once I discovered Naot and realized its potential, I never looked back.

Who is your most coveted dinner guest?

The Obamas. I have the

ultimate respect for them. Being a chief executive is a very lonely position and you have to make very tough decisions.

To do that and still have a sense of honor and care for people is admirable. It would be fascinating to spend an evening and understand a little bit more about who they are.

What are you most proud of? My kids and my four grandkids. My wife, Susie, and I have created this amazing family: three incredible women who are each talented in their own way and doing good in the world.

In terms of business, Susie and I took on the responsibility of creating a worldwide company—3,000

at home. “I feel incredibly blessed,” he says.

“While I have a lot of worries, overall we are trying to do right by our company, our retailers and the world.”

Naot has long been a labor of love for Lax, and the positives far outweigh the negatives.

“What I love about what I do is it allows us to help lots of people,” he says. Case in point: The U.S. subsidiary donates shoes to homeless people every week. In fact, the company just

people work for us indirectly and directly.

We’re creating jobs and a company with an amazing story. We can be very proud of it in every aspect.

What sound do you love? The sound of my grandkids giggling.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received? Crawl, walk, run, fly. My dad told me that when I was young. He was a tough, self-made man and would often say, “As the Good Book says…” and then make up a quote. There was no accuracy. (Laughs) But that one rang true. You can’t just take off, especially in business, without having gone through

the steps of creating the business. My approach is to do things slowly, correctly and build to a crescendo.

What talent would you like to have? To be more organized. But part of who I am is needing all these talented people around me to point me in the right direction.

What inspires you?

People who think outside the box and come up with original ideas. It just blows me away when people think of something that no one else has thought before.

Stephen Hawking, for example. He went on to do great things despite whatever life threw at him.

“She created, out of the ashes of Europe, a strong family legacy,” he says. “Being able to continue that legacy means the world to me.”

What does your daughter bring to the table as CEO of Naot USA? Aylet has been a big part of our division’s success over the years. She came into the company almost 15 years ago. Before she had worked in advertising, and I first sent her to England where

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she earned a degree in shoemaking. Aylet along with a couple of younger women working for us have pushed us to get younger and more fashionable. She has a much better eye for color and style than I do. While we have an amazing design team in Israel, she has been able to keep them directed.

She’s experienced, proven and ready.

She has been doing this basically since she could walk and talk. She also spent six months working for Danny Wasserman at Tip Top Shoes. They loved her. All three of my kids were doing trade shows from a young age—they all could present and sell the line. Beyond that, this allows me to focus on transforming this company from separate entities into a worldwide brand. My family owns the company and our CEO in Israel has a minority stake.

But we’re looking for a successor CEO to take over the factory and, eventually, the same goes for me.

So it’s an exit strategy of sorts.

Not because either of us want to, but neither of us

are getting any younger. I believe that it’s dangerous for a company to be dependent on two older guys. We’re not retiring. We’re moving over to make room for the younger generation.

Where is Naot at now in this unity drive?

Our CEO had told me I bought an amazing company with a lot of problems. So we’ve been dealing with those mostly the last five years, and we’ve solved a lot of them. The Canada and Australian distributor issues, for example, are cleaned up. We’ve also shut down about 10 businesses that the former owners had acquired. They had been taking their eyes off Naot, buying companies that were bankrupt that they thought that they could turn around but lacked the capabilities to do so. It was all being done to create an illusion of a giant portfolio, and they didn’t care if they made or lost money. It was a real mess, and we’ve had to clean all that up.

But you did recently take on Source as worldwide distributor outside of Israel.

Yes, that’s a brand that I’ve admired for years and we finally got a deal done. They are an Israeli outdoor performance brand. It’s helping get us

into outdoor specialty stores, including Naot. In addition, its hiking boots with winterized features is adding to our year-round offering, especially in Canada. Source is bringing a whole new direction to the company. We’re really excited about its potential. We have some unique product in the pipeline. I challenged our design team to deliver the next greatest products. I don’t want more of the same. Naot brings a lot of great design abilities to Source that will allow us to think outside of the box and go into some new directions.

Where do you envision Naot in five years?

First, it’s very worrisome where the world is going.

I think consumers in general are concerned about whether they’re going to have enough money to pay their bills. The difference between the haves, and the have-nots around the world is widening rapidly.

The rising cost of medical care, for example. Your kid gets sick and you can become broke overnight.

People are also living much longer, but few have saved enough for retirement. The financial problems are on a whole other level. In addition, the worldwide concern about peace and security is adding to the worry. We seem to be in a very tense stage.

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Walls being erected, nationalist politicians being elected, wars...It’s not a pretty picture.

It isn’t. In the speech that I gave at my mother’s funeral I noted how she was an unwanted immigrant. Yet she and her sisters built an incredible life in this country. Immigration helped create incredible prosperity, just like it has in Israel, which has doubled in population over the past 10 years. There’s hardly any unemployment there. So this worldwide fear of others, just from a retail perspective, creates horrific problems. Without immigration, we’re a dying country.

It’s just one of many macro problems impacting retail.

Yes. Like the younger generation being a lot less consumer driven. They want quality rather than quantity. It’s changing buying habits tremendously. There’s also changing weather patterns that our industry refuses to adjust to. A lot of goods go on sale before people even need them. It’s biting us all in the rear end, and there’s nobody to blame but ourselves.

For example, if I see a line at a cash register making customers wait, then that retailer is a moron. Customers don’t want to wait for anything today.

Many will not come back if they do. Retailers often complain about the internet, but expecting customers to wait 10 minutes just to buy something is crazy. You’re the problem, not the internet.

mood

What’s the solution?

Better service. Retailers have to come up with unique ideas to make shopping in their stores a pleasant and efficient experience. We recently opened a Naot flagship on Long Island. We have about 80 stores worldwide, and I wanted to try and understand our stores better and create a platform to use in Israel, Canada, Europe, Japan, etc. I wanted to make a statement of what a Naot store should be like. We invested in artwork, it’s comfortable, the service is immediate. We made it fun and beautiful, and it tells the unique story of this amazing Israeli brand.

is

How’s it doing?

It’s not been easy. I can commiserate with retailers. It’s hard to succeed today with all the competition and challenges. You just don’t know where you’re going to get hit next. The environment is very difficult. Plus, there’s the whole insecurity of what’s going on with technology. It’s changing so rapidly, and you don’t know which direction the next thing is coming from yet you have to be ready for it. For example, we’ve talked a lot recently about whether to include tracking devices. Should we get involved in that technology just to stay relevant? There are questions about what’s important in terms of technology and what’s a waste of time. It’s the same with advertising, which is totally different than 10 years ago. As newspapers struggle, how do you get your brand message across? It’s scary watching industries struggle and some literally disappearing overnight.

Like streaming did to Blockbuster.

Our family was a regular customer. For me, this goes all the way back to when I was living on a Kibbutz in the 70s and growing cotton. It had been a profitable business and then overnight the Chinese stopped importing cotton and the price dropped by half. The following year they started exporting cotton and the price dropped by another half.

The cost of watering our cotton was more than what it sold for on the marketplace. That was a lesson in the strength of China. I learned to not directly compete against them.

Yet Naot makes shoes in Israel while many of your competitors manufacture in China.

A key aspect of my corporate philosophy is that unless you are doing >37

FFANY Academy Mansion Room 105

nude.

Always waterproof. cougarshoes.com

DATE

15 May 2018

VOLUNTEER STATE N o w a y e a r - r o u n d , i n d u s t r y - w i d e i n i t i a t i v e , t h e Tw o Te n F o o t w e a r Fo u n d a t i o n’s Fo o t w e a r C a r e s v o l u n t e e r i n g p l a t f o r m c o n t i n u e s t o g a i n momentum and substance. By Greg Dutter

HAVE YOU HEARD? Volunteering is the new black. A growing number of people, especially younger ones, want to take part in community service programs. What’s more, these people want to work for—and buy from— companies with a conscience. Volunteering is even becoming the new golf outing, where employees come together across all levels to do charitable work in their local communities; at the same time, they network and build closer relationships with fellow employees and industry colleagues.

It’s no wonder Footwear Cares, the industry-wide charitable platform launched

by Two Ten Foundation six years ago, has seen participation soar in the number and range of events as well as the number of overall participants. Since the beginning of this April alone, footwear employee volunteers have dedicated more that 3,300 hours of their time to help non-profit organizations Dig it: Volunteers from Deckers Brands within their local communiand REI helped California residents clean up ties, including food banks, after the recent mud slides. homeless shelters, Ronald McDonald Houses, meal delivery services, AIDS walks, park cleanups, Habitat for Humanity builds and donation warehouses. The volunteerism has directly impacted more than 3,100 children and 3,250 families, provided 33,750 meals and sorted

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tens of thousands of pounds of food. According to the Independent Sector, with each volunteer spending on average three hours per shift and valued at $24.69 an hour, footwear employees contributed in excess of $81,000 worth of time to these charities during the month—all thanks to Footwear Cares. What began as a day of volunteering quickly moved to a month of events each April and now is a year-round program.

“We’re thrilled that it’s caught on,” says Neal Newman, president of Two Ten. “The idea was to whet the appetite, and the response was superb.

There’s been so much interest in community service and volunteerism, and we’re happy to support companies of all sizes as well as individuals in their volunteer efforts.”

Newman wants the industry to see Footwear Cares as a seamless facilitator to community service—a portal that offers instruction on how to get involved, how to sponsor an event and, most of all, how to volunteer. It’s easy. Just log onto twoten.org/get-involved/footwear-cares/ to learn all about Footwear Cares, and you’re a click or two away from a rewarding day of volunteering.

Quanda Contreras, who works in EDI/systems support tech for Deer Stags and has been an active Footwear Cares participant since the beginning, partnered with Two Ten’s Maureen Rubino, marketing & special events manager, to make the site as inviting as possible. The duo had started working on the expanded site about a year ago and one of the first steps was to create a list of local volunteering projects that people could sign up for directly as individuals. “It’s a database where individuals can search for projects that interest them and they sign up on their own time.,” Contreras says. “It’s not overwhelming or intimidating, and they don’t have to wait for a company-planned event.” Some people, she adds, prefer a more intimate type of volunteering. “Not everybody is a big group kind of person,” she

says. “Having access to volunteering on your own schedule or with a close associate is wonderful.”

convenient. The range of charitable organizations and the activities to partake in listed on the Footwear Cares site are as broad as are the needs.

Soup kitchens, food banks, homeless shelters, Habit for Humanity sites, neighborhood green spaces, schools and in-office collection drives all serve as possibilities.

They’re all good—just like how nearly all participants report that volunteering is good for the mind, body and soul. It’s the ultimate happy pill with long-lasting effects. “Even a week after

stories from parents and children about how the Children’s Trust helped save their lives made a lasting impression. “It shows that real change can be made by supporting a charity like this, and that just made everybody very happy,” she says.

“It’s just a really warm feeling.” You can’t put a price tag on it, either. “It feels 1,000 times better to actually be there than just writing a check,” Sweeney says. “There’s no comparing the two.”

Newman concurs on volunteering’s feel good quotient: “There are loads of studies that show when you volunteer as a group, you come back happy. You return with a little more spring in your step. You tested yourself and developed a sense of purpose in your skill set.”

THE PEOPLE YOU SERVE When Eric Schapero, owner of Zapatos in Everett, MA, decided he wanted to give back to Two Ten— an organization that provided assistance to his off-price store a few years back—the eblasts about upcoming Footwear Cares events in the area caught his attention. He and his young part-time employee chose to spend a day helping to box donated children’s clothing and supplies for the non-profit Cradles to Crayons. “I’d been thinking a lot about Two Ten and wanted to contribute in some way,” he says. “It was exactly what I was looking to do.”

Schapero was already familiar with PEER PLEASURE Cradles to Crayons, having dropped off The networking opportunity voluna donation himself about a month earteering offers might be the biggest side lier. The familiarity didn’t stop there. benefit, according to many Footwear “Many of our customers are the same Cares participants. Everybody checks mothers and kids that Cradles to Crayons their business card at the door. CEOs and is putting stuff in the bag for,” he says.

VPs work side-by-side with entry-level “They’re also the same people going to employees, and those in divisions that the local food bank.” It’s why volunteerrarely come in contact with one another ing at Cradles to Crayons struck an even can find themselves on the same work deeper chord with Schapero. “These are detail crew. “A lower-level employee people I deal with on a daily basis,” he and a VP working on same project can says. “Unlike, perhaps, someone who have a discussion that wouldn’t have works in a corporate office or is a marotherwise,” says Contreras. “Plus, it’s a keting rep on the road, I knew exactly case of, “I got blisters packing soups at who I was helping.”

God’s Love We Deliver just like my boss Schapero believes that even though did.’ When you’re able to see each other team Zapatos was only two-person strong as just people, the closeness helps people (large groups from Clarks and New work better together.”

Balance were also on hand), their day of Newman cites a recent Footwear Cares volunteering delivered big returns. “I’m event involving employees of Deckers Employees of Shoes.com, title sponsor of Footwear Cares, on the a little niche player, but I’m very comBrands and REI as an example of great steps of the Massachusetts State House, displaying its donation of 344 pairs mitted to the footwear industry,” he says. networking. The volunteers helped clean to The Children’s Trust in support of victims of child abuse and neglect.

“I wanted to give back, as well as have public areas after the recent California some fun.” In regards to the latter, Schapero says the event our volunteers were still smiling and mud slides, which was dirty, hard work. “The a photo of his employee taking part in the day’s talking about it,” says Trisha Sweeney, executive relationships made between Deckers and REI event is worth its weight in gold. “I just look at vice president merchandising of Shoes.com, the wouldn’t have happened otherwise,” he says, addthat smile on his face and knew he had a great title sponsor of Footwear Cares. For the second ing that it was two customers both helping their time,” he says. “For me, that was hugely rewarding.” year running, the online retailer supported The target customer. It was a win-win-win scenario.

Children’s Trust, a Massachusetts non-profit sup“All we heard was how overjoyed everyone was porting victims of child abuse and neglect. Shoes. by spending a few hours to make life better for THE ULTIMATE HAPPY PILL com donated 344 pairs of shoes, which represented those residents,” he adds.

Anyone can be a volunteer. Anyone! You don’t the 688 confirmed cases of neglect or abuse in the Joanne Tucker, operations manager for Topline, have to be athletic, a certain size or possess specific state every week. “It was a powerful statement says the biggest takeaway from its annual Footwear skills. Volunteering is gender neutral and ageless. as the shoes were laid out on the Statehouse Cares day at Northwest Harvest food bank was the There are no income level requirements. It can be steps in Boston,” Sweeney says. “It showed how opportunity for its 45 associates to work together done indoors or outside, on-site or off, in small important this cause is.” Beyond feeling good in a different way than they do daily in the office. groups or large, and pretty much whenever is about making a donation, Sweeney say hearing “It’s not just about socializing, they’re having fun

2018 june • footwearplusmagazine.com 17

externally—to get people involved. “Share the great work that you do so people want to take part,” she says.

“Stay informed and be proud of the affiliation, and conTips and steps to joining the tinue to update internally Fo o tw e a r C a r e s m o v e m e n t . so that you can attract new volunteers, especially new employees that join the company.” Sweeney recomTHERE IS NO company too small and every mends steady communication instead of a couple little bit of volunteering counts to a greater good. of times a year. “You’ll grab new folks—maybe There’s no reason not to get involved, only plentiful somebody was too busy the first time around,” reasons to volunteer. Most importantly, it’s easy! she says. “And be flexible. Embrace new ideas and support and you’ll get new people to join.

STEP 1. JUST DO IT: Pick up the phone and call Be a leader and people will follow.”

Two Ten at (800) 346-3210 or logo onto twoten.

Pictures are also a great way to get employorg/get-involved/footwear-cares/. “Sometimes ees interested, says Joanne Tucker, operations we’re all so busy that while it sounds nice, it’s hard manager for Topline. “People see what went to think about how to start,” says Sarah Bloch, on and the fun being had and say, ‘Maybe I’ll executive director of footwear and accessories do that next time,’” she says. “Communicate for NPD Group. “Two Ten makes it easy by putthe purpose and that it’s fun. Also, coordinate ting together a range of events to sign up even carpools!” as individuals to get started. Start that way and your coworkers will want to get involved too.”

STEP 4. TAKE BABY STEPS: Start small with the goal of increasing the effort each year, advises STEP 2. HAVE VISION: Consider the outcome of Sweeney. “As long as we grow each year, we what you want to do and achieve. Does the experiadd more awareness,” she says. “We had more ence match your corporate values? “Essentially, engagement internally this year, and we’re more we’ll sit face to face and work through what a familiar with the process and understand how company wants to achieve by sponsorship or to do more. It’s a learning process.” involvement,” says Neal Newman, president of Two Ten. “Timberland needs are different than STEP 5. HAVE FUN!: Volunteering can be hard Zappos, which are different from Skechers. We work, but it’s fun. Doing good feels real good. really want them to own it, so they bring those The only side effects may be achy muscles folvalues back to the office and embed it as part lowing a day of hard work. But it’s the good kind of the company culture.” of ache, says Deer Stags’ Quanda Contreras.

Though some of its 15 employees recently STEP 3. RALLY THE TROOPS: Volunteering is often came back with a few bruises and blisters after a more the merrier scenario. Trisha Sweeney, volunteering at God’s Love We Deliver, no one executive vice president merchandising of Shoes. complained. “They absolutely loved it,” she com, says communication is key—internally and says. “Everybody wants to volunteer again.”

ACT NOW!

18 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2018

and building teamwork for a good cause,” she says. However, Tucker notes the most rewarding part of this year’s effort didn’t involve a Topline employee. It was meeting a woman in her 70s who stops by the food bank every day to work a shift. “She wasn’t part of Footwear Cares or even the industry,” Tucker says. The women’s positive attitude in helping her community was inspiring. “We volunteer at the food bank once a year, but there are great people like her who volunteer on a regular basis,” she says. That doesn’t mean Topline’s team didn’t make a difference.

With assembly-line precision, the team scooped, measured, packed and shipped thousands of pounds of rice during its shift. “We repackage it into family-size portions,” Tucker says. For those counting, it was 5,376 pounds of rice into 4,135 meals for Seattle-area families in need.

Networking was also a highlight for NPD Group’s 14 volunteers who prepped meals at God’s Love We Deliver, a nonprofit dedicated to helping those living with serious illnesses in the New York metro area by alleviating hunger and malnutrition. Sarah Bloch, NPD’s executive director of footwear and accessories and a member of Two Ten’s newly established Associate Board, says the company’s second year participating in Footwear Cares was a joy from start to finish. Employees interacted with each other as well as vendor partners. “I know it’s hard to get out of the office sometimes, but Footwear Cares brought us a renewed sense of not only accomplishment but gratitude for each other and helping others,” she says, noting they were joined by employees of Kenneth Cole Productions. “They weren’t the people we usually interact with, so it was nice to partner with them in a different way,” she adds.

Like everyone, Bloch’s team donned gloves, aprons and (unfashionable) hair nets and huddled around four tables filling and sealing soup containers. Over the course of the afternoon, the group packed 2,500 individual containers and chopped large tubs of vegetables for the next day’s soup. “It was really tiring but rewarding,” she says. “My legs hurt at the Kenneth Cole end of the day, but the people and NPD Group we’re helping are living with employees life-altering illnesses, and that prepped soup puts everything into perspecfor thousands tive. The sense of mission and of New Yorkers purpose brought us together in need at God’s and gave us a great feeling.”

Love We Deliver.

With the help of Two Ten Connect, a service that offers updates on the latest news and updates about the organization, Bloch aims to increase NPD’s involvement in Footwear Cares

nationwide, perhaps enlisting its sports and sports footwear sectors next year. “We’re passionate about the mission of Two Ten,” she says. “We’ve been in the industry for many years, and as a culture we’re in a critical time where companies need to go beyond the business case and embrace the moral case.”

UNITY IN THE AGE OF DISCORD Blame President Trump or thank him. Take your pick as many experts cite the heightened state of national discord—and the president deemed a flash point—as fueling a backlash in the form of community service. There are additional factors driving people to seek out a greater purpose, according to Newman. “We don’t know our neighbors as well, people are becoming more isolated, entertainment is in their hands, there’s a lot less opportunity for group activities and socially, racially and gender diverse moments in our lives,” he says. “I believe Footwear Cares has tapped into a moment in our country’s and our personal lives that is helping us look at the meaning of who we are and the reward that we feel and higher purpose served when we help others.”

It’s why Two Ten expects Footwear Cares to continue to gain momentum in the years ahead. “Events happening year-round,” Newman says. “Some are more outdoor-oriented, and they are picking up from April through September. The list this year includes Habitat for Humanity home >39

FORE!

Vo l u n t e e r i n g is the new game in corporate America, especially for younger-aged employees.

GOLF IS NOT for everyone—even when it’s a charity event. No offense to duffers and scratch golfers, but a day of volunteering can be more affordable, inclusive, (often) quicker and involve an entire company.

“Volunteering appeals to a much broader segment of people,” says Trisha Sweeney, executive vice president merchandising, Shoes. com. “It’s more affordable, plus you don’t need a handicap.” Sweeney

adds that from her experience spearheading the company’s involvement with Footwear Cares that volunteering has been a more fulfilling experience for more employees.

“You get outside, you work together, you meet new people and you can enjoy the accomplishment much more,” she says. “Golf outings aren’t going away, but volunteering allows for so many other avenues. It can include anyone—you don’t have to be athletic, and it works with people’s schedules better.”

Neal Newman, president of Two Ten, sees Footwear Cares and volunteering in general as a different game entirely—one that is only gaining in popularity. “This is a chance for people to fill a personal hole in the search for a deeper meaning,” he says. “It’s just a moment we’re in as a society where people are looking for real connections. I think there will be a resurgence of kindness and compassion—at least I’m hoping that. Footwear Cares is a platform for our industry to take a lead in that, as well as let consumers know it.”

A N OT E T O M Y Y OU N G E R S E L F

LET IT RAIN R o b M o e h r i n g , c h a i r m a n o f Wa s h i n g t o n S h o e C o m p a n y, m a k e r s o f C h o o k a , We s t e r n C h i e f a n d S t a h e e k u m , r e f l e c t s o n t h e 1 2 7- y e a r - o l d , f o u r t h g e n e r a t i o n f a m i l y b u s i n e s s — a n d w h y h e’s a l w a y s h a p p y w h e n i t r a i n s .

DEAR ROB, Never, never, never give up! You cannot afford the luxury of negative thinking. Smile! Listening and being open to serendipity is opportunity. There are no random meetings. Everything, and I mean everything, that happens is good in the big picture. What goes around comes around. Remember, it’s only shoes.

During school breaks in junior high, you start working in the wholesale shoe company run by your father and uncle. You like shoes so much that you later land part-time jobs working at Kinney Shoes, Thom McAn and the local Seattle department store Frederick & Nelson. During college, you continue to work part-time at Mundy’s shoe store in the small town of Ellensburg, WA, while earning a degree in education. After graduating, you embark on a teaching career working at an experimental primary school. It’s where you learn to understand what motivates children.

It will pay huge dividends in the future.

After five years teaching, however, your father and uncle need help in the family shoe business. You decide to return to the industry you’ve long loved. You focus on selling junior fashions to national chains like Edison Brothers, J.C. Penney, SCOA and Browns, among others.

Your father and uncle, however, are out of their comfort zone. They are accustomed to selling simple basics to a small territory of independent family shoe stores. When faced with a large cancellation that puts the entire business in financial jeopardy, they get cold feet and cash out. They shutter the business, keeping the real estate. But you do not want out of the footwear industry. You love the thrill of the chase. You love the world of fashion. You love hitting on a trend and blowing it out. So you purchase the company name and, along with your wife and college-age son at the time, you restart the business in a mini-storage warehouse over a methadone clinic in Seattle. Another local startup, Pearl Jam, rehearses on the fourth floor while homeless people sleep in the hallways for $5 per night.

While it’s not the ideal corporate digs, you make it work. You have a knack for spotting trends and capitalizing on them. They include takes on wavy-soled Earth shoes, Adidas Country and Nike Cortez nylon trainers, wood-bottom Candie’s slides and Bare Trap clogs, Cherokee wedge sandals, Mia moccasins, Jellies, Moon Boots, Duck boots, Snowjoggers and Nine West flats. You have some great runs, and it’s so much fun! You continue to expand distribution nationwide. Then you hit upon your biggest trend to date: rain boots. Perhaps it’s serendipitous that a lifelong native of the Pacific Northwest would strike gold selling rain gear. But we’re not talking

20 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2018

basic black galoshes or army green wellies. The Chooka knee-high rubber boots you bring to market serve as canvases that let your imagination run wild in terms of colors, patterns and prints. Your daughter Amy serves as a muse and models regularly for the brand. You take it a step further with your Western Chief children’s rainwear styles that feature the faces of ladybugs and frogs molded into toe boxes, turning the boots into lovable characters that kids adore. License deals with Disney, Hello Kitty and DC Comics, among others, follow and take your character-themed kids’ rainwear collections to starry heights in terms of sales. Along the way, you learn to follow your vision to create spot-on styles. You trust your gut. Your timing is great, and you never forget your rainforest roots. Your boots are where fashion meets function—look great and stay dry doing so.

You’ve been in the shoe business for decades and life is good. The rain boots craze sends Washington Shoe Company on its best run in 125 years-plus of existence. You move into state-of-the-art corporate digs in Kent, WA. No more dodging junkies in the lobby. Alas, no more free Pearl Jam concerts either. There’s a yin and yang to everything. You transition into a chairman/emeritus role and name your son, Karl, CEO. He’s risen through the company ranks from part-time helper to CFO to COO and is ready to lead the family business into its next phase of growth. Your other son, Mark, has also joined the family fold, rising to the rank of vice president and managing some of the company’s biggest accounts as well as its Wear A Big Smile charitable foundation. Your sons are utilizing their unique strengths, and the portfolio continues its expansion into year-round lifestyle brands.

While it’s never easy letting go, you relish your new role, which lets you focus on the big picture. Daily business tasks and worries are better handled by younger people. Most of all, you love being a mentor—that’s the teacher in you. Your goal is to help build a harmonious team that loves to come to work each day. A little heads-up in this regard: Seek out people who possess these four values—honesty, intelligence, loyalty and willingness to work hard. Employees with such traits will serve the company well. Know that we’re all equals and in this together. Your corporate mission statement, “Wear a Big Smile,” will motivate all who come into contact with Washington Shoe Company—consumers, retailers and employees. Last but not least, remember that a family business is more than a family running a business. It’s a family that includes everyone working in the business. There’s no greater good than that.

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T R E N D S P OT T I N G

BOW WOW! D e s i g n e r s t i e o n e o n : d a i n t y, b o l d , f r o n t , s i d e a n d b a c k .

Clockwise, from top: Cole Haan, Gabor, J. ReneĂŠ, BC, Earth, Chinese Laundry, Restricted, Malone Souliers.

22 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2018

THIS JUST IN

summer in the city Hot damn! New Yorkers get a leg up on warm weather fashions on the heels of a cold and dreary spring.

Photography by Marcy Swingle

2018 june • footwearplusmagazine.com 23

T R E N D SSPPOT OTTTIINNGG

M E TA L L I C A !

Mining the ever-appealing allure of silver and gold.

Clockwise, from top left: Nina, Kendall + Kylie, Gabor. Opposite, top to bottom: Bill Blass, André Assous, J. Reneé, Walking Cradles, Indigo Rd.

24 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2018

2018 june • footwearplusmagazine.com 25

Katy Perry Collections slingback, Urban Outfitters striped top, Beatrice.B trousers.

27

Pump by Thierry Rabotin, ASOS maxi dress, Beatrice.B robe. Opposite: Emanuel Ungaro by Malone Souliers mules, Beatrice.B striped top and Chu Chu Loo dress.

29

All Black silver bootie, Manoush dress, Seafarer silver sparkle jacket.

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31

Brocade slingbacks

by Badgley Mischka, Beatrice.B top and pleated maxi dress, silver puffer jacket

by Chiara Ferragni.

Opposite: Seychelles bootie, Beatrice.B pants, Chu Chu Loo metallic bomber jacket, vintage top.

32

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Bella Vita booties, Sarah Swann blouse, Chiara Ferragni sequins pants. Opposite: Zipper boot by Cole Haan, Smarteez dress and Suncoo striped shirt.

Hair and makeup: Christina Nicole Errante; model: Bethany/Fenton Model Management.

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EDITOR’S PICKS

Imagine Vince Camuto

Guess

D E S I G N E R C H AT

DIEN NUYGEN

How’s business this year? We’ve found ourselves in a unique white space where we sit on the floor with other great luxury brands.

We’ve seen an uptick in growth over 2017, which we attribute to streamlined operations, expanded e-commerce business, improved 36 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2018

Bella Vita Gabor

Marc Fisher

RED ALERT Vra-vra vroom! The passionate hue se ts hear ts racing.

product quality and innovative material sourcing across a wide range of products.

Who is the quintessential Swims customer? He’s an active, city-dwelling male, aged 25 to 44, driven to fulfill his personal and professional passions. He switches seamlessly from online to offline, perpetually style-conscious and able to stand out in a crowd. He prefers versatility in his outfits to carry him from work to events, airport to pool and weekdays to weekends. In sum, he lives the modern good life.

Any designers you admire? I am a huge fan of (furniture designers) Ray and Charles Eames because of their never-ending sense of wonder about the world around them and the gumption they had to change it.

Is there a perfect shoe? For me,it’s a classic upper on a sneaker construction. My affinity

for classic dress shoes will never fade, but the practicality of the underfoot comfort of a sneaker construction has no equal after a long day of running around the city. That’s why I designed the Motion Collection.

What do you love most about designing?

Nikola Tesla said, “I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success.” That’s how I feel about designing footwear—and I get to wear what I design.

What might people be surprised to know about you? I really enjoy feeding people.

Whether it’s scouring farmer’s markets for seasonal ingredients or discovering heritage grains for sourdough bread while traveling, few things give me more enjoyment than feeding friends and family. I also surf in the early morning or after work to clear my head.

E D I TO R ’ S P I C K S P H OTO G R A P H Y BY T R E V E T T M CC A N D L I S S

DESIGNING MEN’S SHOES was the last place Dien Nuygen, design director of footwear and accessories for Swims, expected his career to lead, but now he would never give it up. Intent on studying industrial design at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, CA, with the plan of designing furniture, Nuygen’s path changed when a San Diego-based footwear company recruited him to work on classic men’s dress shoes. “From there I developed a newfound passion for footwear, which eventually landed me a gig in New York designing shoes at Ralph Lauren,” he says.

In the years since, Nuygen has worked at menswear notables such as Cole Haan, Alexander Wang and Calvin Klein, before joining Swims. “Men’s shoes and accessories remain a passion and my primary area of expertise,” he says. But some old habits die hard. Nuygen approaches design with the same materialfocus as one would to craft furniture, reinventing the classics with a mix of weather-friendly technologies for utility and style.

The antithesis of fast fashion, the Norwegian brand creates sustainable shoes and encourages repair and reuse. The result is a balance between function and style—just like a trusty set of table and chairs. “Swims marries a sleek silhouette with extraordinary versatility in material and construction,” he says. “Our designs communicate taste and adaptability without sacrificing comfort, protection or flexibility.”

For Fall ’18, Nuygen is taking adaptability to the city with a stable of Mother Nature-approved shoes offering transitional style throughout the day. Called the Motion Collection, the line of waterresistant nubuck leathers, high-round midsoles and lightweight rubber outsoles take the wearer from a business meeting to happy hour to dinner to catching a red-eye. “The Motion Collection brings a modern sculpted feel to fresh footwear and outerwear silhouettes that measure up to the classics,” he says, noting that working men desire to combine business and pleasure—one shoe for work and weekend. “The longevity of the athleisure trend has made it into a core category, and our shoes are designed from the outset for maximum versatility,” Nuygen adds. —Aleda Johnson

continued from page 15 something different and unique, you shouldn’t be in business. If you’re not providing either a service or an answer to a market or a problem, then it ultimately boils down to price. Eventually, you’ll get eaten alive because there’s always going to be someone who will undercut you on price. At the end of the day, it’s our culture, design and craftsmanship that makes Naot special. We offer a great story and an incredible product.

It has tremendous value. Our shoes last a long time and are extremely comfortable. Our consumers are incredibly loyal—they are Naotics.

People literally have hugged me, saying how our shoes have enabled them to walk pain-free again.

And they are willing to pay more for it.

Our average price is about $150 for sandals and $200 for shoes. It’s not a cheap product. In many stores, Naot is the most expensive brand, but we’re also often the best-selling one. And while strong margins are important, not enough turns means you’ll be out of business soon. We’ve always preached that you can make a huge amount of money selling Naot because of our great turn rate. In addition, we treat retailers fairly and equally. We offer no discounts, no matter the size of the retailer or the order. We’re equally loyal to all our customers. No. 2. We offer incredible service. No. 3. We have incredible product featuring amazing design that’s innovative and fresh. No. 4. We are unique in that we are based in the Middle East but influenced by Europe—it’s a very cosmopolitan brand that reinterprets trends for a worldwide market. Retailers often say we’re the best at what we do. (NSRA named Naot “Vendor of the Year” in 2017.) I just received a letter from one who is retiring after 50 years, complimenting us as being the best at what we do. That kind of recognition gives me confidence that we can become something greater. I told our team recently that some think we’re the best. However, I added, I think we suck. My standards are higher.

I said we better get better, faster and smarter, because it’s not good enough.

No pressure sales a la buy this in order to get more of what you want?

We do just the opposite. We tell retailers to buy a little less and fill-in. My whole philosophy has always been: I don’t care what I sell you today, it’s about what I’m selling you two years from now. And if I’m not selling you then, we didn’t do our job right. We’re the warehouse that can ship orders the same day. The big guys can’t work as fast. We are the ultimate openstock company. The challenge now, however, is we’re not working with buyers as much as we used to. Plus, the internet offers little buying pattern on what sells on any given day. It can wipe you out on a style because you had no read on the potential. It makes our job harder.

Just another challenge to overcome.

It is. A big part of our business is now done through internet sites, and that’s really direct-to-consumer (DTC). Those customers didn’t go into a store. Historically, the first gatekeeper a designer had to go through was the distributor. The second gatekeeper was the buyer, often followed by the owner, then the salesperson on the floor and finally the consumer. Whereas online, it goes directly to the consumer. There are no other gatekeepers.

Making it more challenging is the fact that internet companies aren’t like buyers in the traditional sense. They are negotiators. It’s like working with lawyers. They buy the whole line and tell you the terms.

A lot of wholesalers have been ramping up their DTC efforts. What’s Naot’s position on that channel?

I’ve always said we’d never compete directly with our retailers, and we

WH AT’S SEL LI NG

A

Vegan Speciality

MOOSHOES N e w Yo r k , N Y

FTER GOING VEGAN in their teens, sisters and Queens natives Erica and Sara Kubersky knew firsthand the struggle of finding not just food but clothing and shoes that are free of animal products.

In 2001, they came up with their own solution: opening MooShoes in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park neighborhood. The array of vegan-friendly shoes, bags and accessories on display became a destination for like-minded consumers from near and far. Nearly two decades later, a lot has changed—including a move to the Lower East Side about 10 years ago, adding a deli and grocery to the mix and opening a second location in Los Angeles. But what hasn’t changed is the Kuberskys’ dedication to the vegan lifestyle and belief that customers should feel like a part of the community when they walk through the door. “We want people to feel like they’re not sacrificing anything by being vegan,” Erica Kubersky says. “We have something for everyone.”

The 700-square-foot New York space spans styles for men and women from BC, Native, Matt & Nat, Dr. Martens and Birkenstock, among others.

The connecting 800-square-foot deli and grocery gives shoppers a place to pick up their favorite vegan soap or a bagel with carrot lox. “We want the store to be an experience,” Kubersky says, adding that community events like trunk shows and expert-led wildlife visits further increase traffic. “We want our customers to feel like they can hang out, not just shop.” —Aleda Johnson How’s life on the Lower East Side?

We love it, and we got here in the nick of time. It’s one of the few neighborhoods that has character, but you still get that gritty New York feel.

Why add the deli? We added the deli because a lot of our customers go out of their way to see us when they visit.

Often, the first question is what are the shoes made of and the second is where should they eat. Now they can do both here. Also, when Sara came up with the idea three years ago, sales just weren’t where we wanted them to be. The deli made us tighten our shoe selection, which has increased sales because we learned to edit better.

So you’re weathering the “retail shakeout” ok? In beginning, we experienced big jumps in sales each year. Around the six- or seven-year mark, things evened out. Then, just like everyone else, about four years ago, we experienced a drop in sales. But lately we’ve been seeing an uptick again.

What’s the best way to draw traffic? We try to keep things interesting. We’re always adding new products, and we try to have a community feel. A lot of people visit for our events, like trunk sales, free food and opossum visits. We also use social media, but word of mouth has been our No. 1 way of people finding out about us—more than physical ads or promotions.

How has the cold spring impacted business? The store in L.A. definitely

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helps a bit, but we’ve felt the impact because the spring sales season here is already short. By July, people expect summer shoes to be on sale, but with the cold they weren’t buying until May. Things have evened out now, and we have quite a few summer shoes that we’re sold out of.

What are this season’s most popular styles? Classic styles. Flat and heeled versions of ankle boots with a sporty, hiker look are popular. Also, a lot of mules, which make for a good transition shoe. And our women’s selection isn’t as feminine as it used to be, so we sell a lot of oxfords.

What are your leading brands? Our house brand Novacas (Spanish for “no cow”) is our top seller for men and women. We’re also selling a ton of Birkenstock, which started making vegan sandals a year ago.

Any new brands added to the mix of late? Ahimsa, which is Brazilian, is newish. FAIR (For All Its Rights) is totally new. They’re made in workerfriendly factories in Portugal. We’re in the age of information, so fair trade is another question we get a lot from our customers.

Does the selection differ from the L.A. store? At first we thought it would be drastically different with higher heels, brighter colors and embellishments in L.A., but we’ve run the numbers and it’s classic black shoes outselling everything else. Still, it’s important to have a few standout styles.

What’s your biggest challenge right now? To stay current and to offer items not found elsewhere. Our challenge is to keep it fresh. In addition, every small retailer finds it hard to compete with bigger stores. We’ ll never be able to offer free shipping, and we’re not open 24 hours.

Did you ever envision this becoming a lifelong career? We were both so young when we started. I was 22. I didn’t know if it had that much of a future, but it’s been a career path and now I’m not suited to do anything else. (laughs) Plus, we both met our husbands and made lots of friends through here.

Where do you envision MooShoes in five years? More stores? Sara has a lot of entrepreneurial spirit. She helps run Modern Love Brooklyn, a restaurant in Brooklyn, so I won’t be surprised if you see her open other vegan endeavors. But for MooShoes, I don’t know if it’s something we would do more of because of how much people shop online these days.

What is the best part of being business partners with your sister? Running a business is hard and it can bring out the worst in people, but at the end of the day nothing will break us up. Even if we have a big fight, we still have to go to mom’s for dinner. Seeing each other outside of the store brings us back to reality and that it’s not the end of the world. Having a business partner you can trust 100 percent of the time is great.

don’t. We don’t sell a single pair on our website DTC. Business is hard enough for our retailers for us to compete directly against them.

Might Naot just be the last brand not selling DTC? I don’t know. But to me it’s foolish to do if I want to stay in business long-term. Besides, just because we’re a good distributor doesn’t mean we’d be a brilliant retailer.

It seems that losing sales to wholesale DTC sites has surpassed competing with online dealers as the No. 1 concern.

It’s the same way we don’t open stores near existing accounts. Basically, retailers are having a tough enough time with rising rents and less traffic. Then there’s all the spiffing going on. It’s a bribe, really. You’re selling an inferior product to your customers because your salesperson has their hand out. It’s a short-term strategy, because if the consumer doesn’t like the product, then they are likely not coming back to your store. Plus, your salespeople’s loyalty is to the brands offering the spiffs and not to the store.

What does this all mean for shoe shopping going forward?

At the end of the day, our best sales are when people try on a pair in a store. Lots of people still want to do that before buying, and I believe there’s always going to be a need for trying on a shoe for the first time.

You still can’t touch the latest and greatest on the internet. Fortunately, there are some incredible retailers around the country that make this type of shopping enjoyable.

Plus, no return hassles and, in the process, lessening that carbon footprint.

I agree. The amount of waste involved with shipping goods back and forth when shopping online is a big negative. I think we’re in for a rude awakening, environmentally. I don’t think the hurricanes last year were an anomaly. Of course, it’s not just online shopping causing the damage.

It’s the whole way we do everything. I feel bad for my grandkids in that we didn’t create a better world for them. My parents created a world that was much richer than the one they came from.

Exactly how do you remain optimistic when the world looks to be going down the toilet?

My wife is a spiritual counselor, so that really helps. Also, each day is an opportunity to do something positive. While I’m no saint, if I help create something that helps our company and our retailers—great people who I consider to be some of my best friends— that’s what keeps me going forward. It’s genuinely a joyful ride. I’ve been very blessed. Sometimes I think somebody up there really likes us, because there’s a lot of luck involved—being in the right place and taking advantage of it. I’m a lucky guy. I really love what I do.

What specifically do you love most about your job?

I love teaching and mentoring. We’ve hired young people with criminal backgrounds and helped turn their lives around. We’ve hired people with disabilities and helped build self-esteem. I also love creating a team—the kinship from A to Z that spans building a successful company and trying to make the world a better place. •

From top: Zappos employees volunteering at its annual “Operation Prom Closet” that donates dresses, shoes and accessories to more than 2,000 lowincome students in the Las Vegas valley.

Members of Chinese Laundry, UBM and Seychelles box food for donation at the L.A. Food Bank.

continued from page 19 builds with Shoe Carnival and Marc Fisher, Skechers working again with the Compton Initiative, which is a terrific organization, and BBC Intl. doing three events.” Newman adds, “We’re also tapping into what companies are already doing, seeing how they can possibly collaborate with some of their vendor partners at an event.”

Year-round volunteering is exactly how Topline rolls. Every month a group of its employees visits the Seattle Ronald McDonald House to serve meals. The company also hosts an annual toy drive for the charity. In addition, Topline’s entertainment committee hosted a spirit week which culminated in a winter clothing and food drive. The company also donates shoes to Mary’s Place, a shelter for homeless families, and encourages employees to take part in No Shave November to benefit colon cancer research.

“When people are passionate about a certain charity, they should feel like they can help,” Tucker says. “We encourage them to send a company email to get people’s support.”

Sweeney says Shoes.com is also ramping up its own volunteering efforts throughout the year and, as title sponsor, helping organize major events across the country. “The goal is to have at least one major event quarterly,” she says. “We’re working with the Footwear Cares committee on a volunteer field day event with the Boys and Girls Club of Charlestown this summer.” (It’s the home of Shoes.com new Massachusetts-based headquarters.)

Ditto for Deer Stags: More volunteer events are being planned for the end of summer and fall, reports Contreras. Last year, the company held donation drives for Why Not Care that collects and distributes donations for people in need. “We donated shoes so boys at a local high school could attend their prom in appropriate clothing,” she says. “And for Father’s Day, we gathered items from our homes—ties, shaving equipment, etc.—and put together care packs for a local homeless shelter.”

Same goes for Zapatos. Schapero says it’s the least he or anyone can do. “Footwear Cares is a great idea,” he says. “I see lots of ads asking for help for people overseas, but we also have a lot of people in our own cities who need assistance.” It’s too easy not to volunteer, he adds. “To take a morning off to volunteer at Cradles to Crayons, a local food bank or wherever, is easy to do. While it may be easier to write a check, the people who really care are the ones who get up and do it.” •

LAS T WORD

Built for Speed

Bully Pulpit M a t t P r i e s t , C E O o f F D R A a n d c o n f e s s e d s h o e l o v e r, d e l i v e r s a s e r m o n o n t h e s t a t e o f t h e i n d u s t r y. B y A l e d a J o h n s o n MATT PRIEST HAS had his work cut out for him from the day he was named president of the Footwear Distribution and Retailers of America (FDRA) in 2009. Initially tasked with growing membership, he was met head-on by the Financial Crisis. It was a steep learning curve, but the exec found his footing thanks, in part, to the tutelage of past FDRA chairmen like Matt Rubel, Jim Issler and Blake Krueger.

Then, in 2016, Priest was elevated to CEO amid the Retail Apocalypse and inauguration of President Trump that has shaken trade policies to their core. Amid this era of disruption and the industry seemingly reinventing itself on the fly, Priest sits at the high alter of the nearly 75-year-old organization dedicated to keeping its members informed across the supply chain and helping boost their bottom lines through innovative products, training and consulting on design and development, sourcing and compliance, trade and customs, advocacy, and consumer and sales trend analysis. Here, Priest reflects on how the industry is rapidly changing, how FDRA is helping smooth out the rough patches and why he believes it’s a golden age of opportunity.

FDRA recently held its annual summit. What were the big takeaways? The word that comes to mind is agility. You have to be agile on the retail front to meet consumer demands as well as build agility into the supply chain. Those who figure out how to build agility into a corporate structure that’s been around for more than 100 years will be successful. It requires thinking outside the box about how to drive traffic into stores. For example, Dick Johnson of Foot Locker suggested bringing in old sneakers to have them washed.

On a scale of industry revolutions, where does this one rank? We’re in a golden era of innovation and responsiveness because we have these daunting challenges with consumers changing so quickly. But if we didn’t, there’d be no opportunity for great change. Everything we’re doing as an industry— from the production, design and retail sides—is a reaction to what consumers want. We’re not just churning out the same two colorways for every man, woman and child. It’s daunting but exciting. Consumers will have access to more products and more input into their creativity. Because of 3D rendering, brands will be able to feature designs online that have never been produced and place orders based on consumer response. It’s crowdsourcing creativity into the development process.

What might the retail landscape look like in 10 years? As a kid, I lived in a small town in North Carolina. It took an hour just to get to the mall. Now, we’re over-stored and a proper correction is taking place, but that doesn’t mean stores will go away entirely. I have three daughters, and we love to go shoe shopping as a family. Our spring survey showed that the majority of consumers still want to buy shoes in stores—half have still never bought a pair online. In the meantime, the channels of distribution are shifting, sometimes seismically and other times less so. But I believe the future is

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bright because we are an innovative global industry that understands the need to be agile and is working through the correction as we speak.

It feels like we’re crawling out of a slump? Is it a “slump?” In-store sales are down, but there’s growth in ecommerce. Footwear is one of those industries where we’re not too high with highs or low with lows. On average, we import seven pairs for every person each year. If we maintain that ratio, we’ll be in a strong position. Everyone is fighting over their cut of the pie, and the quicker you can get it to the consumer, the bigger piece of pie you will have.

How is it impacting manufacturing? We have more SKUs than ever, but less average pairs per SKU. The key is managing inventory. It’s the largest liability companies have. That’s why we’ll see more DTC platforms. It doesn’t mean you can’t get product outside of a brand’s website, but it might be customized with a week turnaround and have free shipping built in.

Amid all this industry disruption there’s the Disruptor in Chief. What’s the Trump Effect? We must engage with the highest levels of government on the importance of eliminating, not increasing, duties on footwear.

We sent a letter from footwear companies to the president making sure he understood we already pay billions of dollars in annual duties.

It’s also given us an opportunity to educate the broader public on how duties are a hidden tax that we’ve been paying since 1930. Up to $3 billion a year is ridiculous for an industry that, out of its 350,000 employees, less than 12,000 make shoes in this country. I believe we’ll be successful because of our engagement, but there has been disruption.

What are your near-term objectives? We’ll keep the drum beat in Washington. On the offense side, we’re working on how to negotiate new trade agreements to lower duties. Maybe it’s a bilateral agreement with Vietnam? On the development side, we’re about to launch a digital library of materials used with PLM systems. We teamed with Deckers, Calares, Wolverine and others to develop this program. It’s going to change how people source materials. We need to constantly think about innovation so current and future industry members are as innovative and agile as possible.

Agility is actually an industry trademark. Yes. We’re a small industry, relatively speaking. It’s like everyone has worked at every company, and there are no secrets. That’s a positive, because we keep drawing from a great talent pool. From the CEO of Foot Locker to someone in the basement, everyone wants to help and collaborate. The close relationships among competitors is a recipe for continued collective success. FDRA continues to play a key role. We’re more vibrant than ever, which has more to do with our members than me. I’m blessed to be along for the ride. I can’t imagine working in any other industry.

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