A closer analysis of the three charts published in the Sept. 7 issue of SGI Europe, showing the variations in the sales and market shares of 71 brands of comfort, fashion and outdoor casual shoes in 2005, indicates that the total “brown shoe market” grew last year by 10.0 percent to $13.73 billion at the wholesale level worldwide. According to our annual estimates, it had grown by 8 percent in 2003 and by 13 percent in 2004.
Variations in exchange rates had a minimal impact this time. As we said last time, the main reason for the more muted performance of the brown shoe industry last year was probably the increasing strength of the athletic footwear brands in the street shoe market, aside from the strong development of Geox, Lacoste, Keen, Crocs and some other exceptions. Sales of branded athletic footwear increased by 9.9 percent last year to $24.2 billion, led by the so-called “fusion shoes” marketed by the likes of Puma and Converse.
The athletic brands are making strong inroads, particularly outside the U.S. market where brown shoes are still more important, but the opposite is happening in the brown shoe sector, creating a better balance in the global village. Sales of athletic footwear rose by 7.8 percent in the USA, by 10.2 percent in Europe, by 9.9 percent in the Asia-Pacific region and by 24.3 percent in the rest of the world. Instead sales of brown shoes overall increased by 12.6 in the USA, reaching a level of $5.97 billion, and by 8.0 percent to $7.76 billion in Europe and the rest of the world.
We had given a different rate of increase for the European athletic footwear market, and we are sorry for the inconvenience. Also we had overestimated the growth of the overall rugged outdoor market. Even if we estimate 0 growth for “other” brands in this sector, we come up with an increase of 10.8 percent to $3.72 billion for this important segment of the brown shoe market. The corrected table is on page 11 of this issue. It shows growth rates of 13.3 percent in the USA and 8.0 percent in the rest of the world.
As reported in the last issue, the international lifestyle casual footwear market, ed by Clarks, ECCO and Geox, grew by 8.7 percent to $5.98 billion, with stronger growth of 13.9 percent in the USA. Led by Skechers, Steve Madden and Diesel, the international fashion casual footwear market rose by 11.3 percent to $4.03 billion, rising by 11.0 percent in the USA and by 11.4 percent elsewhere.
