SKECHERS Breaks Ground with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for New Distribution Center
The 1.82 million square-foot SKECHERS facility in California's Inland Empire will be the largest LEED-certified building in the United States
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SKECHERS USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX), a global leader in lifestyle footwear and the No. 2 footwear company in the United States, joined developer Highland Fairview and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Friday, March 12 to mark the groundbreaking of SKECHERS' new 1.82 million square-foot distribution center in Rancho Belago, California.
With Highland Fairview, SKECHERS is constructing the facility to handle the distribution of its product in the United States and Canada. The distribution center will be the largest LEED-certified building in the United States. In addition, SKECHERS will be transitioning from 1.6 million square feet of distribution space across five buildings in Ontario, California, to the more efficient, automated, single facility. This will further reduce the Company's energy consumption and environmental impact. The facility is expected to be completed in 2011.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger began his remarks at the groundbreaking by noting the unemployment rate in the region, and added: "SKECHERS will be the first phase of development here and that's something to be celebrated. Plus, the fact that this will be the most environmentally sound, progressive, sophisticated building in the United States proves that what's good for the economy can be good for the environment too."
Commenting on his first visit to SKECHERS headquarters in Manhattan Beach in 1999 just after SKECHERS went public on the New York Stock Exchange, the Governor continued: "The Company was skyrocketing, and then they started expanding all over and they were in Europe and in Africa and in Asia; now they do business all over the world. I was a big fan of your shoes then. I'm a big fan of the SKECHERS shoes now."
"This new facility will provide SKECHERS with the logistics and distribution support required to match our growth," stated Michael Greenberg, president of SKECHERS. "By using the latest efficient technologies, we're able to streamline our expenses while reducing our environmental impact at the same time. For SKECHERS, that's a win-win."
"We're excited to be bringing a major global company like SKECHERS to Moreno Valley," said Iddo Benzeevi, president of Highland Fairview. "This project will provide jobs and revenue in our city at a time when it needs it most. We hope with SKECHERS as the anchor, more large employers will discover the opportunity that exists here."
ABOUT SKECHERS USA, Inc.
SKECHERS USA, Inc., based in Manhattan Beach, California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of footwear for men, women and children under the SKECHERS name, as well as under several uniquely branded names. SKECHERS footwear is available in the United States via department and specialty stores, Company-owned SKECHERS retail stores and its e-commerce website, as well as in over 100 countries and territories through the Company's global network of distributors and subsidiaries in Canada, Brazil, Chile, and across Europe, as well as through joint ventures in Asia. For more information, please visit www.skechers.com.
ABOUT Highland Fairview
Highland Fairview is part of a privately held real estate development company specializing in the development of large scale commercial and residential projects. Highland Fairview and its affiliate companies currently own approximately five square miles of properties within Riverside County in Southern California which are in various stages of development. We are continuously inspired to marry new construction technology with sustainability in exceptional design.
This announcement may contain forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or simply state future results, performance or achievements, and can be identified by the use of forward looking language such as "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "project," "will be," "will continue," "will result," "could," "may," "might," or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include international, national and local general economic, political and market conditions including the global economic slowdown and the ongoing financial crisis and market instability; entry into the highly competitive performance footwear market; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers, decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009. The risks included here are not exhaustive. The Company operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and the Company cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can the Company assess the impact of all such risk factors on the business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.
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Source: SKECHERS USA, Inc.
Released Mar 16, 2010 • 9:00 am EDT