Where most categories of footwear had to accept losses this year, running was able to stay ahead with single digit growth for most brands. In my opinion I think that this may be because buying a pair of running shoes is much cheaper than a monthly gym membership and running provides a cheap and easy form of keeping in shape. I think running also provides an amount of time for an individual to think and unwind which is also very necessary during tough times. I can’t wait for my half-marathon at the end of January….let’s hope the weather here in Miami cools a bit soon though to make it more fun to train! 87 degrees today!! Check out the full article on FN HERE.

Footwear News posted the International Trade Show schedule and there is some great ones  I hear! I am really looking forward to attending Bread and Butter sometime this year, although will be most likely in September. I would love to hear from any of you who have attended the shows overseas and would love to know which ones are the best….although I would go to any of them simply because I love to travel and discover new things…..

The Walking Company is continuing to maintain a positive outlook despite recently filing chapter 11. They stated in an article on FN that they have plans of aggressively getting out of their current state and blaming it primarily on issues with the store leases. Many of their vendors are standing behind them and expect things to make a turn around….we wish them the best!

Mecca Bingo recently partnered with the charity Whiz Kids to auction off celebrity footwear to bingo players in order to raise money to support the organization. The auction was named, “Heels for Wheels” and was able to help put disabled children in powered wheel chairs. Always good to see people doing good for others and I am sure the celebrities who donated the shoes feel good that they helped many kids.

Supershoes.com added a new feature to its website this week allowing visitors to create “vanity URL’s” which are profiles that the user can customize to their liking. From earthtimes.org, “The feature allows visitors to secure a custom vanity URL for their profile page on the site, which they can populate with their most and least favorite shoes as well as uniquely tagged products. Visitors can easily share their Vanity URL with friends and fellow shoppers, while leaving their own mark on the site. Supershoes.com Vanity Pages are optimized for Facebook and Twitter and even include a new “Live Feed” that shows real-time interactions on the site.” Sounds interesting!