Q&A
Q: What’s new at Grubs? How has the year fared for the brand? David Foster: We have been through the biggest rollercoaster ride I have ever known in the last few years and at some points we literally held on by our fingertips, but 2023 has seen us bounce back!
Our North American business has quadrupled; we went through a management buyout there which saw the business model change. They have brought in some new investors with a bold plan to expand the business to fully cover the USA and Canada, and Grubs is an essential component of that growth.
Australia and New Zealand are not far behind, but from a smaller base. For us it’s an open market and we’re going in strong! At the end of last year we signed a new Australian distributor, specialising in agriculture. We have also reunited with a partner in New Zealand so we’re entering the agricultural market there once again; 2024 will see us make inroads into the industrial, building and mining sectors there as well.
In Europe we struggled last year and the comeback is slower, mainly due to the energy crisis. We are approaching Benelux and Germany with a new direct model, and our team are concentrating with the online specialists where the move from high street to online has been much more aggressive than here in the UK. We are most excited about the UK market, however, where lots of smaller brands and some very large ones have left holes in the market – that we are rapidly filling! We have all seen new owners and liquidations of our traditional competition over the last couple of years; others have simply hiked up their pricing to try and fill the voids. But Grubs is a watertight ship; we are a small, family-run firm with low overheads and direct-to-retail business that fulfils next day from our held stock.
Q: What’s the reception been like for the new Muddies range so far? I bet you’re excited to be launching this? DF: Yes definitely! Retailers have been very receptive to it. In the UK we have adopted a new strategy of targeting upper-end bricks and mortar stores that have a strong consumer base, working with them exclusively to deliver a full service supply chain. We have been careful to keep online to a handful of complementary accounts that will feature the whole range and maintain price. For these customers it’s essential to maintain margin.
We have built a new dedicated sales team around the Muddies brand too, and introduced a brand ambassador in the form of Ted, the Muddies teddy, wrapped in the ‘Small feet, big adventures’ tag line on POS.
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The first territories for Muddies are the UK and Germany and then we will begin the roll-out through northern Europe and further afield in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Q: Do you have any thoughts to extend the Muddies brand/range further next year? DF: Yes, we have big plans. Next year will be a year of consolidation, looking at what worked, what didn’t, and addressing that. Expanding international distribution is a next step too. For Spring 2025 we are planning a range of complementary water-friendly styles that lean on the athletic history of my family, and this will give our retail partners a year-round range that keeps Muddies in store and in the window every season!
This will be a key objective for us. The market is very busy and we need to establish a need for the premium Summer products we want to offer. The children’s market is great to do this as retailers are very involved; they must ‘buy in’ to the Muddies story and brand proposition.
Q: How are you finding the footwear sector in general right now? How do you ensure your brands remain relevant and appealing to consumers in this tough climate? DF: We focus on value for money and comfort with everything we do. Whilst not specifically value brands, both Grubs and Muddies offer this against other premium brands. At the same time they offer comfort way above that of our competition.
If you have to be outside for your work, or you just choose to be, having warm and comfortable feet is something you value above pure price and functionality. Our advantage is that Grubs is our brand – we design it, we sell and market it, and we manufacture it. Lots of companies talk about their employees as a family, but ours literally is! Even down to our supply partners who my wife and I have worked with for the past 20 years; we all have the same outlook and work ethic – to make Grubs and Muddies the best!
OCTOBER 2023 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • 21
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