Sales of footwear in the United States fell by 5% in September on a yearly basis, according to the data released by the NPD research centre. The sales totalled 2.5 billion dollars, compared with the 2.4 registered in August, which in turn had been subject to a 2% drop. The most significant fall was noted in women’s shoes: -7% (1.1 billion). But men’s shoes failed to fare much better, with a drop of 5% (910 million), while the children’s segment (+1%) received a small push thanks to sales of back-to-school footwear. In terms of categories, the most popular lines (+10%) were the so-called “leisure footwear”. “The fashion sneaker continues to lead the sector – concludes Beth Goldstein, executive director of NPD – with work shoes and over-the-knee boots first in line”. The summer weather also influenced the market in the UK where, – according to data released by the Office for National Statistics – sales of clothing and footwear dropped by 2.8% in September. Instead their prices are moving in the opposite direction: +5.8%. Staying across the Channel, instead the figures recorded by Harrods are extremely gratifying, as it prepares to close the seventh consecutive year with a profit, due mostly to the surge in the number of tourists visiting the UK, attracted by the devaluation of the pound. According to The Times, the turnover of Harrods is 1.44 billion pounds (1.6 billion euro), i.e. up 4% on the previous year, with a growing 19% profit before taxes and an operating profit of 178 million pounds.
USA and the UK, the summer puts a damper on shoe sales. The weak pound sets Harrods soaring
