Cheryl Taylor, Editor, talks to independent footwear retailer David O’Dwyer of Shoe Suite, O’Dwyers, Eire. Q&A:


Name: David O'Dwyer Shop(s): SHOE SUITE/ O’Dwyers Home town: Midleton


Family: Wife: Anne Marie. Children: Sarah, Louise and Mark


How did you get into footwear? Tell us about your background and your current business? My mother started the business in 1960 and I took over in the early 80’s. I’m delighted to say that my son Mark is now in the business with four years. I studied accountancy before joining the business, but hated being behind a desk permanently. Where are your premises located and how many people do you employ?


Do you have a high turnover of staff? Tell us about your shop(s), the local area, your customers and their requirements? We are located in Clonmel, Kilkenny, Dungarvan, Midleton and two stores


in Cork city. I’m happy to say we have a very low turnover of staff, which I think is crucial to running a successful retail business and was never more important than it is today. To say the retail environment is challenging today is an understatement – the rate of change has never been as fast – with changes in priority to lifestyle , internet shopping , footfall , customer expectations , retail experience etc. it’s ever evolving.


30 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • FEBRUARY 2019


Do you have an online shop/website and do you use social networking for business? Yes, we have our online store “shoesuite.ie” which is developing nicely but we still have a long way to go. As we all know a website is a necessity not an option, even as a shop window alone it’s important. We also use Facebook and Instagram.


How are you finding the footwear market currently? The footwear market is the same as all other markets it’s changing daily. One of the biggest changes I see is the desire of brands to develop closer ties to their dwindling account base. This means exchanging sell through percentages to ideas on good units (colours are seasonable) lasts etc. Also, in some cases brands want to test new units and styles and offer


swop out’s if they don’t work. In reality this is very important to both parties as we are all consumed with sell through and basing future orders on their results, so if a new style does not work it can distort sell through (depending on quantities) and have a negative effect on the subsequent order. This then may not accurately reflect the overall potential of the brand. Therefore swap outs are very important as all the risk cannot be on the retailer’s shoulders. The other bug bear I have is with margin – independents need more


margin from their main suppliers. The margin for error is too tight and sale periods too long. Brands need good quality retailers and good quality retailers need margin to survive and reinvest . If this anomaly is not corrected then we will have fewer and fewer retailers.


What’s selling well? Any particular trends? Which are your best selling footwear brands – and why? We stock a lot of brands – the most important Ladies to us are: Gabor, Reiker,Paul Green, Hogl, Hispanitas, Ara, Birkenstock, Marco Moreo , Marian, Le Babe, Unisa etc. They represent brands that are solid, reliable, consistent quality and fit, timely deliveries and good back up most with B2B sites.


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