WP: It's Shoe Love, Pumping Up Sales (shoe sales surge)

[DeepModem Mom]

It's Shoe Love, Pumping Up Sales
Spending Looking Up as Women Look Down

By Margaret Webb Pressler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 19, 2005; Page D01


....For the past two months, sales of shoes have been up sharply, for a host of reasons. Department stores, specialty chains, high-end retailers and low-end retailers are all reporting big sales increases, often in the double digits.

At Hecht's, shoes have surged into a top seller for the chain. At Wal-Mart, executives say footwear is doing well "across all categories." At the lower-priced chain Shoe Carnival, October brought a record sales gain of 21 percent. Some independent shoe stores are feeling the frenzy as well....

***

As with any fashion business, shoe sales are cyclical, but industry experts say it takes a confluence of factors to send the category soaring the way it has been recently. A lot of new fashion trends are hitting the industry right now, such as fancy decoration and a Western theme, that consumers like. Retailers, at the same time, are keeping their prices down because of overseas production. And finally, though this is perhaps the toughest element to pin down, women seem to be in the mood to buy. Shoes sales have been strong for men and women, but it is women who are driving the numbers.

Bill Boettge, president of the National Shoe Retailers Association, has a clear theory about why, honed by more than 30 years in the business.

"Women love footwear, and they use it for a psychological boost," Boettge said. "It's almost like they're saying, 'The hell with everything else, I'm going out and giving myself a lift. Enough of this war, and gas prices, and worries about terrorism and hurricanes.' "...


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/18/AR2005111802436.html

[Duer 157099]

1. Hmmm... so shoe sales a barometer of societal angst?

OK that works for me

[MADem]

17. Naaah, more like three bucks a gallon, time to start driving those

Hush Puppies you got on!!!!!

[madaboutharry]

2. Yup, it is true

Nothing like a new pair of shoes to make the whole world look better. I also have this little handbag thing going on, but what the hell.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Yep, same here. Shoes, and bags. At least we're not alone. nt

[AlCzervik]

7. guilty as charged here, my outfit isn't the big interest to me, it's the

bag and the shoes. Guiltiest pleasure is building an outfit around a new pair of shoes.

[Betsy Ross]

10. Yup, bought a great pair of green clogs

but don't own any green clothes. They work with black though. A green outfit in on my list of sewing projects.

Not buying products made in China provides a degree of protection from the shoe compulsion. It took me two years to find a pair of serious winter boots that I could wear with dresses. CANADA was and is the answer. Boycotting Chinese goods has really reduced our consumption of stuff we probably don't need. I frequently wonder what the peasant in the factory in China images Ameria to be like as he or she assembles a paper mache turkey or a dancing santa.

[AlCzervik]

11. i'm looking for some boots as well, some higher heeled pointy toed

ones, no luck for usa made but no i will try Canada.

[aquart]

14. or buy genuine uggs from australia and new zealand

not the phony uggs made in china by an american company called uggs australia that we get here.

[kysrsoze]

22. I just don't understand the fetish-like need women have for shoes

and handbags, but almost all of them have it. Being a somewhat tasteful guy, I like a nice pair of shoes and I know women love nice shoes on a man. But it's like an addiction or a compulsion at times for them. It's hilarious, but there's nothing like a really sexy pair of shoes on a woman.

[GrumpyGreg]

4. If the show fits----------buy it! My mantra for many years.

[tocqueville]

5. explains why Condi was shopping recently...

'The hell with everything else, I'm going out and giving myself a lift. Enough of this war, and gas prices, and worries about terrorism and hurricanes.' "...

[savemefromdumbya]

6. Made in China?

what would we wear if we didn't have China?

[MuseRider]

8. Hate to admit it

but I am a shoe-aholic at least until lately. You couldn't get me into some of those ugly assed shoes they are selling now so I am supporting the sporty shoe sales these days.

[shanti]

16. admitted shoeaholic since 1967

always on the lookout for the perfect pair of black shoes! nowadays tho, i prefer flats and "comfort" shoes. it's rare to find a shoe that isn't made in china too. the shoes that were previously made in europe are not made in china, brazil, etc. the quality always suffers too.

[yorkiemommie1]

9. i can identify w/ this

have been for years.

[Dervill Crow]

12. I was just thinking this morning that I haven't bought shoes in ages.

I won't succumb now, just because I don't want to be just another statistic.

[depakid]

13. Given that the Post plays fast & loose with facts

and considering the time of year- I wouldn't believe this story unless I saw some independent confirmation by a reputable source.

[Carolab]

21. Me too! I got a gift certificate for my birthday last month.

And today I thought: I think I'll use it on some new shoes!

How weird.

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. Oh no, It's the Shoe Event Horizon! (Hitch Hiker's Guide alert)

This superb idea only appeared in full in the second Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series (a much abbreviated version is in the second book), and I can't find it written out in full anywhere on the web. Someone ought to put it on the web, so, from memory:

The Shoe Event Horizon is now a recognised part of economics, and is commonly taught in all middle school Life, the Universe and Everything classes. Here is an excerpt from the Brantisvogan MegaLycee:

Computeach: Welcome to this morning's lesson. Are you sitting comfortably?

Student: Yes teach!

C: Then stand up! Lesson One: Harsh economic truths. Are you standing up? Good. Posit: You are living in an exciting, go-ahead world. The future is bright. Where are you looking?

S: Up.

C: What can you see?

S: The clouds, the sky, an infinite horizon!

C: Good! You may press the button.
(a pleasant 'tring' is heard)
S: Oohh, that feels nice!

C: Posit: You are living in a stagnant, declining world. You are depressed. Where are you looking?

S: Down.

C: What can you see?

S: My shoes.

C: How do you cheer yourself up?

S: (hesitantly) I press the button?

C: No, forget the button, think again.

S: I ... buy a new pair of shoes.

C: Good, you may press the button again.
(tring!)
S: Oooh, that's really nice!

C: So, what happens when everyone does this?

S: Everyone feels nice?

C: No! Forget the button, concentrate.

S: More people buy shoes.

C: Meaning?

S: More shoe shops.

C: Go on.

S: To support the shoe shops, manufacturers have to make more shoes, in even more outlandish styles.

C: And so ...

S: They have to build more and more shoe shops, and make more and more shoes, until they reach ... (very excited) the Shoe Event Horizon! It becomes economically impossible to build anything other than shoe shops, every shop in the world becomes a shoe shop, and, bingo, I get to press the button again!
(tring! tring!)
C: Wait for permission! And then?

S: War, famine, collapse of society, all the beings on the planet evolve into birds, and swear never to walk on the ground again.

C: Excellent, end of lesson - you may press the button!
(tring! tring! tring! tring!)

S: Oooh! That's so nice! OK, thanks teach, bye!

C: Wait a minute. Haven't you forgotten something? What about the other button?
(much lower-pitched tringing)
C: Bwahhahhahhahhhahahhhh!

[Lorien]

18. I'm a woman, and I'm baffled by the shoe nuttiness

I wear fashionable clothing (to a degree-it's not very high on my list of budget priorities), but as far as shoes go, one only "needs" a pair of dress shoes, workout shoes, boots and sandals. I think I have around ten pairs of shoes total, accumulated over about as many years (many are now just "knockabout" shoes-too worn to take outside the home). What's the point in "collecting" shoes? Is it just a symbol of wealth between women of means?

[Pithy Cherub]

19. Condi sure needs really big *psychological boosts*...often

and with really high price tags. :evilgrin:

[NashVegas]

20. I Had to Practically *Make* My Own Shoes a Week Ago

I went to four shoe stores and the only shoes I could find to match the color of the (vintage) dress I was planning to wear were 5-inch stilettos. Undoable for me. So I got a pair of cheapies and glued blue sparkles to them.

hint: royal blue is *not* one of this season's colors.

*hmmph*

Until the "witch shoes" go back out of style, I'm afraid there's not much for me in the stores.