November / December 2019

FEATURE

Work

Work It Out

There’s work (boot) life beyond the construction site

For a large — and growing — group of professionals, what they put on their feet is part of the critical equipment for the day. Whether it’s nurses, chefs, waiters, urban farmers, lawn and garden pros, fishermen or warehouse and delivery drivers, these work shoe and boot wearers are looking for light, durable, protective and stable footwear that makes their job easier. Luckily, brands are ready to deliver. Read the full story.

Work

On The Job

Lawn and garden workers, delivery drivers, restaurant workers, nurses and doctors are on their feet day in and day out on the job. But these hard-working consumers aren’t looking for a traditional work boot. Read the full story.

Insoles

Super Supporters

Insole brands are going the extra mile to give extra comfort and stability to those who put their feet to work in everyday life. Read the full story.

Crowd Source

Black Friday Blues? Not Here.

By the middle of November, it’s easy to feel like the holiday shopping season has already been going on forever. “Jingle Bells” playing everywhere you go, snowflakes hanging over the half-price Halloween candy at the drugstore — and more than ever... Read the full story.

Retail

Whistle While You Work

There’s more than one way to work, and for nearly a quarter century Whistle Workwear has grown its business by stocking the right product for all the different industries that call the Pacific Northwest area home. Read the full story.

OUTDOOR

KIDS

Getting Out

Parents shopping for kids shoes bring a checklist — they’re looking for styles that will stand up to playground antics, keep little feet protected in all conditions and needs the day can bring, and, of course, look totally on trend. Read the full story.

Retail

Covering the Bases

The fifth-generation owners of Beck’s Shoes have four rules for selling the industrial work market: Cover all the bases; make the process seamless; emphasize the after-market with socks and insoles, and take employers out of the shoe business. Read the full story.

September / october 2019

FEATURE

Gold MEdal Service Awards

That Golden Glow

How the Award Winners Excel at Customer Service

It’s been five years since Footwear Insight created the Gold Medal Service Awards to recognize and honor the incredible, vital work that independent shoe shops across the country do every day. We know how hard you work to make your customers’ lives better, and we wanted to give the stores that go above and beyond the recognition they deserve. Read the full story.

School Colors

Cool for School

When it comes to kicks, whether you go old school or new school, class is definitely in session. The freshest updates to the classic court shoes and running styles are the varsity blues (and reds and golds and greens and oranges and …). Read the full story.

Crowd Source

A Staffing Playbook

Brick-and-mortar independents know service — and by extension, they know people. With so much of the channel’s strength resting on the customer service it provides, getting the right employees on the front lines is essential. Read the full story.

Trends

The Great (Urban) Outdoors

Consumers in urban environments (and suburban ones too, for that matter) with busy lives are increasingly looking to outdoor endeavors for balance. We asked execs at outdoor brands for their thoughts on the urban-outdoor trend and where it’s headed. Read the full story.

Lines We Like

In The Wild

Animal prints are on the prowl this fall and they are a strong presence in footwear collections for Spring 2020 as well. Here are a few of the styles making us purr.
Read the full story.

Analysis

What’s Next in the Tariff Standoff?

For the footwear industry, pain from tariffs has already been inflicted. Where do we go from here? As vendors and retailers alike work aggressively to mitigate impacts on holiday sales and beyond, container imports from China continue to... Read the full story.

Hosiery

The Right Stuff

Updates from Around the Sock Market including: Darn Tough Vermont, Feetures, Balega, Heat Holders, OS1st, Sock Guy, and Farm to Feet. Read the full story.

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