NEWS
News In Brief . . . • Clarks becomes more International • Start-rite buys a children’s shoe retailer • Macintosh launches small Scapinos • Luxury goods will grow by 8% • Crocs sales are lifted by Europe • Wolverine grows by 16.1%
• New optimism for Indian production Fly London has won a prize for the “Best Enterprise
Solution” from Retail Technology Europe. The Portuguese brand got the prize because of the implementation of an intelligent RFID system that allowed customers to try out a pair of shoes virtually in a store, visualising his or her own image in a busy street environment in London, New York or Tokyo. The system, which also improves the supply chain, was developed by a consortium of six companies including Creative systems, with the support of Portuguese technical institutes.
Just a month after the end of Modacalzado+Iberpiel,
the organisers had already booked 85% of the exhibition space available for the next edition, being held September 11-13. The new dates place it between the big shows in Dusseldorf and Milan, and while it remains in Feria de Madrid, it is moving from its traditional halls to Halls 12 and 14. The new halls mean a new set-up, allowing booths to be more open and modular to better showcase the footwear and leathergoods on display. New exhibitors include Garvalin and Olimpo, and many regulars have already booked their space, including Pons Quintana, Pedro Miralles, Callaghan, Fluchos, Mascaro, Robert Clergerie, Beverly Feldman Luis Onofre, Isle Jacobsen, Minnetonka, Hispanitas, Wonders, Mustang, Glosseppo, Pura Lopez, Magrit, Castaner, Paco Gil, Xti and Pertini.
The number of visitors at the Moda Made in Italy fair in Munich last month was down to 2,520 from 2,600 one year ago, but the number of exhibitors was up to 230 from 215.
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Clark’s net profits rocket C&J Clark offset slow sales on British soil with soaring international
growth in the last fiscal year and the company saw its total net profits rise by more than a quarter. The British company which now operates 1,071 shops and employs 13,000 people worldwide, reported these and other figures in its annual report where its new chief executive, Melissa Potter, expressed confidence in reaching the strategic objective of building Clarks into a global brand. For the first time in its history, Clarks saw its total turnover outside of the
UK, nearly matched its domestic sales at 48.2% of the total. The group’s consolidated revenues grew by 9.2% to £l,281.3 million. An increase of 6.3% in the volume of shoes sold, combined with higher selling prices, helped drive overall net income up by 26.8% to £77.1m. Operating profits grew to £110.9 million, from the previous year’s level of
£97.4 million, but benefited from the sales of some real estate. More money was spent last year on new store openings and refits than in the previous year, but many other stores were closed. In the end, the total number of owned and franchised stores around the world increase to 1,071 from 1,045 in the year, but the door count in the UK declined to 588 from 604 at the end of the previous fiscal year. In the UK, the number of company owned stores fell to 476 from 497, with full-price Clarks’ shops going down to 393 from 398, but the number of franchised stores increased to 112 from 107. The number of franchises rose to 134 from 125 in the rest of Europe and to 94 from 74 in the rest of the world, excluding North America, where the company pushed up the number of corporate stores – trading under the Bostonian, Hanover and Clarks’ of England banner, up from 242 to 254. All in all, 48 new franchises were opened in the past year, building up to a network of 225 locations selling 1.7 million pairs annually. The turnover of the Clarks International division, which covers sales in the UK and everywhere else except in North America, rose by 3.2% to £806 million. The volumes handled by the division remained virtually flat during the year at 35.2 million pairs. Strong growth in European and other international markets was offset by weaker spending in Clarks’ domestic market. Same store sales in the UK rose by just 0.5% for the 12-month period, lagging behind the growth of 5.3% estimated by the British Retail consortium, which Clarks says was driven by promotions. Wholesale revenues in the UK and Ireland grew by 2.9%, with margins up by 6 per cent. On the other hand, Clarks’ factory outlets recorded 5.1% growth on a
comparable store basis and better margins. With sales of more than million pairs, its new web shop raised its turnover by 56.0% to £32.2million generating 57.3% higher profits of £10.8 million. Profits declined at Clarks International to £93 million for the year, down
from £94.2 million. Profits generated in the rest of Europe grew by more than 25% on 11.1% higher volumes, while profits from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and South American were up by around 30% on a volume increase of 19.8%. Clarks’ distribution in the Chinese market is now up to 260 locations, with sales in China rising by 19.9% to just under 1 million pairs of shoes during the year. Sales at Clarks’ North American unit jumped by 19.2% to $735.2 million,
with 18.3% growth in shipments to 13.7 million pairs. The wholesale turnover of the division went up by 22.8%, to $431.7 million with better margins resulting from fewer markdowns. Thanks in part of the opening of 28 new stores, retail sales in the division grew by 14.2%. to reach $297.5 million. Profits at the North America dvision leaped by 82.7% to reach $85 million, of which $72.8 million came from the wholesale channel, after an increase of 3 percentage points in gross margins to 38.1% Clark’s management is cautious about the year ahead amid concerns on
consumer spending in the UK. The company expects cuts in public expenditures to tighten up purse strings, while higher supply chain costs are also being accounted for. On the other hand, sales of the spring/summer 2011 collections have so far increase by 40% in North America and by 15% elsewhere.
4 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • JUNE/JULY 2011
www.footweartoday.co.uk
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