Fluevog Shoes plans to open its 22nd store in Edmonton next week, on the heels of opening its 21st store – a second store in Montreal – earlier this year.
The openings highlight how small, niche shoe retailers are able to compete against large chains, some of which have had severe troubles.
Although Statistics Canada’s most recent numbers show that Canadian shoe-store sales were about $322 million in January, up 6.8% from the same month in 2016, the overall sales mask scuff marks on some shoe retailers’ balance sheets.
Payless ShoeSource announced April 4 that it has filed for Chapter 11 protection from bankruptcy as it restructures. The reorganization will involve closing nearly 400 stores. Payless had operated more than 4,400 stores in more than 30 countries, including more than 100 stores in Canada.
Payless blamed declining mall traffic as consumers shift to buying online.
“This is a difficult, but necessary, decision, driven by the continued challenges of the retail environment, which will only intensify,” Payless CEO W. Paul Jones said in a release.
Online retailers have also had struggles.
Vancouver’s Shoes.com abruptly closed its website and shut its two brick and mortar stores’ doors on January 27 without giving any warning to customers, some of whom had shipments that were never delivered.
Alvarez & Marshal was appointed as the receiver responsible for sorting out Shoes.com’s debts and trying to ensure that the failed online shoe retailer’s creditors got paid.
Able Auctions then handled an auction for the company’s office equipment and other assets on March 23 in Surrey.
Fluevog COO Adrian Fluevog told Business in Vancouver April 4 that Fluevog’s business is going very well. Fluevog, who is the son of the company's CEO and founder John Fluevog , was a winner of BIV's Top Forty Under 40 award in 2015.
Part of that reason for Fluevog's success could be that the company designs and manufactures its own merchandise, he said.
