Footwear Manufacturing Industry Profile

Companies in this industry make footwear, including athletic, casual, and dress shoes as well as boots, sandals, and slippers. Major companies include NIKE, Skechers USA, and Wolverine World Wide (all based in the US), along with Adidas (Germany), ASICS (Japan), Belle International (China), and PUMA (Germany), Yue Yuen (China).

Worldwide, about $143 billion worth of footwear is exported annually, according to the International Trade Centre. Top exporting nations are China, Vietnam, Italy, Germany, and Belgium.

The US footwear manufacturing industry consists of about 230 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with sales of about $1.8 billion.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is driven by fashion industry trends, demographics, and consumer disposable income. The profitability of individual companies depends on their ability to design and market shoe models that effectively target consumers' tastes and preferences. Big companies have economies of scale in distribution and marketing. Small companies can compete successfully by specializing.

The US industry is concentrated: the top 50 companies account for more than 95% of sales. Many of the major shoe companies in the US are mainly owners of brand names that contract to have shoes made by independent manufacturers in other countries. Because of the lower costs to manufacture footwear abroad, imports account for nearly all of the US market. The largest suppliers to the US are China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Italy, and India. Major export markets for US footwear include ...