Tips and Bits from Stephen Gill…our eye on the UK!
by JULIA
Our friend Stephen from the UK and founder of Footwear Partnerships sent me the following in a response to my questions regarding up and coming brands and new brands starting up in the UK. I did a little homework and found the website links and hope you enjoy learning about a couple new brands. Both of the brands to watch I think have a lot of potential and I am looking forward to seeing where they go! Thanks again Stephen f…
I want to know….why did you choose shoes?? (haha)
by JULIA
I want to hear your story! How and why did you end up in this fabulous industry??? I know there are people who come from multiple generations of shoe pros, while some (like me) accidently ended up here. I believe it will be extremely interesting to hear how you ended up where you are! Please email me at julia@shoebizness.com!! xoxo
Results for Companies that Started out of the Trunk of a Car!!
by JULIA
Last week I posted a question about what companies are known to have started out of the trunk of a car….and even better what kind of car?? Well, I received quite a few emails and here is the list: Kenneth Cole-Actually started out of a truck. It’s a pretty cool story. Apparently the reason the company is called Kenneth Cole Productions is so they could park a big truck on the street in front of the Hilton duri…
The Daily 5-All about the good news!
by JULIA
1. According to Big Research, the most frequented shoe stores are Wal-Mart, Payless, Kohl’s, DSW, JC Penney and Famous Footwear! The list is based on a survey of 8,000 consumers. Congrats to these stores…visit the link for the rest of the list! http://www.wwd.com/footwear-news/#/article/footwear-news/shoe-selection-consumers-name-most-frequented-stores-2084989?navSection=footwear-ne…
Keep ‘em coming!
by JULIA
I have enjoyed today’s posting so much and really these stories are what this site is all about!! When I was recruiting every time I worked on a new position, I was able to hear so many stories and get to know so many people. It was so fun and that is how the idea for shoebizness.com originally started! A way for me to share all the stories that I was lucky enough to hear on a daily basis. Please email me if you have anything…
Another great story…this time from Ken Proctor owner of Twig Footwear
by Ken Proctor
What I loved about Ken’s email immediately is his excitement and his honesty! I encourage you to visit the Twig website and read the about page as well. What a great story and it is nice to see people getting out there and following their dreams! It isn’t always easy, but if you love what you do and you pursue with conviction the rewards are nothing short of amazing! I am learning this myself on a day to day basis and I am reall…
Tom Cassidy and the story of how Nike began…..
by JULIA
I was planning on posting the results to my “trunk of car” question, which has received quite a bit of attention, tomorrow but I have a couple of emails that I want to share a little early. This one is from Tom Cassidy. Tom is a true veteran of the footwear industry with more than 23 years experience. His expertise is quite broad with sales and marketing management with global experience in footwear, apparel, and accesso…
Meet Ryan Dowd from Blue Sky Creative Group….a great story!!
by JULIA
Ryan Dowd was nice enough to respond to last week’s posting regarding companies that started out of the trunk of a car (http://www.shoebizness.com/?p=949) . In his email he had a link to his website which of course I had to take a peek at. I immediately noticed that there was a cool story there. Two brothers designing footwear together….I asked Ryan to share his story with you all and he kindly agreed. I hope it inspire…
Happy Monday!
by JULIA
Happy Monday everyone! We have some really interesting and fun features this week so keep checking in! I want to announce that we are continuing to gain more and more popularity in the industry and last week we increased the number of visitors by more than 35%! Also our LinkedIn group continues to grow and we surpassed the 2400 member mark. If you haven’t joined yet, you should: http://www.linkedin.com/grou…
I am stealing from Wayne’s blog again…he has some good things to say!
by JULIA
Wayne Elsey, the CEO of Souls4Souls posted the following in his blog a couple days ago and I really cannot agree more with what he says! The key… March 22nd, 2009 This last week on several interviews and preparing for my talk in DC in a week on the charity, I have and will continue to focus on three core elements to be successful. 1) Get of the couch. When I saw the single shoe float up on the newscast, I was sitting on the couch wa…
Matisse Sheena’s Weekly Rant :)
by Matisse Sheena
It’s that time again! I really enjoyed this week’s rant, so hopefully you will too!The disclaimer reads: “Sheena’s Weekly Rant is meant for entertainment purposes only and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of all Shoebizness contributors. Here on Shoebizness we like to highlight all different perspectives.” This weeks topic: PUBLIC RELATIONS 101 – Keys to Getting a Brand Out There This is a difficult su…
Thank you Klub Nico!
by JULIA
Kelley Lehner, Designer for Klub Nico was nice enough to donate 10 pairs of beautiful brazilian made shoes for a swimwear fashion show I produced recently. The models fell in love with the designs as well did my production team! Thank you so much to Kelley. One thousand dollars in proceeds from the evenings event was donated to Kids in Distressed Situations. Thank you Kelley for you generous donation and I wish you co…
Stephen Gill-Eye on the UK
by JULIA
I introduced Stephen Gill a couple days ago. Stephen is going to be providing insight on the UK market on an ongoing basis here on Shoebizness which I personally am very excited about! If you ever have any questions that you would like to see him answer, please email me at julia@shoebizness.com and I will ask him ever so nicely to share. For this posting Stephen is giving us a perspective on the current retail landscape an…
The Daily 5-It’s all about the good news….
by JULIA
1. Camuto Group signed license agreement with Kenzie Girl and will launch the first line at Ffany this summer. Camuto already has a diverse lineup of brands and Kenzie Girl will certainly add to the mix! http://www.wwd.com/footwear-news/camuto-group-inks-license-for-kensiegirl-footwear-2080949 It was easy to get my 5 today! Hopefully it keeps getting a little easier… 2. Tod’s profits rise 8%. Now t…
Linda Cahan-Visual Merchandising tips!
by JULIA
My Assistant and Daily 5 contributor Nina spotted an article from Linda Cahan, which she posted in the Daily 5 two days ago. We liked Linda’s article so much that we decided to find her on LinkedIn to see if she might be interested in sharing a little something with us. Lucky us…she was interested ! I really enjoyed reading what she has to share and couldn’t agree with her more! I believe you will be seeing more of Linda…





