Genesco CEO: Customers Are Trading Down as Market Fills With Heavily Discounted Athletic Shoes

Genesco CEO Mimi Vaughn gave further insight into the company’s plans with its Journeys business after a disappointing first quarter. On the company’s quarterly earnings call on Thursday morning, Vaughn doubled down on the notion that excess inventory and heavily discounted athletic footwear have pushed customers to trade down from full-price footwear, following several increases due to inflation. “I was anticipating, just as much as everyone else in the industry, that athletic discounting would subside by the time we hit mid-year and before back-to-school,” Vaughn told analysts. “But we’ve actually had a number of others within the industry who have said that discounting will continue through the balance of the year. As a result, they’ve built more markdowns in to their plans to be able to affect that clearance.” “These are really dramatic discounts, and it’s on good products, and it’s on products that normally isn’t discounted,” the executive added. “And that’s why we think it attracts a lot of attention.” Vaughn reminded analysts on the call that Journeys remains a “full-price business” and as a result, she feels the customer is “sitting on the sidelines.” The executive also admitted that consumers have an appetite right now for newness, and in recent times, Journeys

Follow Footwear News on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

from Footwear NewsFootwear News https://ift.tt/1ij8xYL