SKECHERS, the Nation's Number 2 Footwear Brand, Opens First Irish Retail Store

Nov 11, 2010 • 7:01 am EST

Global Footwear Company Also Announces New Licensed Stores in Canada and Portugal

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SKECHERS USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX), a global leader in the footwear industry and the Number 2 footwear brand in the United States*, today announced the opening of the first SKECHERS-branded retail store in Ireland.

The new Irish store, opened last month, comes as part of a worldwide retail licensing expansion for SKECHERS. A second Portugal SKECHERS store will open in December in Lisbon. Four new stores recently opened via partners in Canada (Brampton, Edmonton, and Winnipeg with Town Shoes, plus Montreal with Bo-Pied). An additional three stores with Canadian partners are planned for early 2011--bringing the total number of SKECHERS stores to more than 400 worldwide.

"Every SKECHERS retail store is a highly effective outlet for consumer interaction with our brand," added Michael Greenberg, president of SKECHERS. "We're excited to deliver the complete SKECHERS experience through our partnerships in Ireland, Canada and Portugal. This growth illustrates the strength of our brand and SKECHERS retail licensing opportunities around the globe."

"Our partners understand where and how the SKECHERS consumer fits into their marketplaces, and Ireland is no exception," began Marvin Bernstein, managing partner for SKECHERS, S.a.r.l., which is a wholly-owned international subsidiary of SKECHERS USA, Inc. "Licensing our retail model around the globe drives brand recognition and builds on the well-established wholesale business we currently enjoy in these markets."

"SKECHERS is a perfect match for Ireland and we know men, women and kids will love experiencing this brand in a true destination shopping environment," said Paul Gallagher, managing director of Shuz 4 U. "This is the first stage of plans to open multiple SKECHERS stores across Ireland over the next five years."

SKECHERS is building on its strong wholesale presence in Ireland with its first retail store on Henry Street--the hippest, premiere shopping area in Dublin. Spanning over 200 trendy boutiques and restaurants including department stores like Debenhams, Henry Street is a prime destination for over 33 million visitors every year. The new store will operate under a retail licensing partnership with Irish retailer Shuz 4 U Ltd.

ABOUT SHUZ 4 U Ltd.

Managing director Paul Gallagher has worked with Ecco footwear and Pepe Jeans and launched his own brand, GASOLINE, in 1989. He was named runner up for Best Independent Young Fashion Retailer-UK/Ireland in 2005. Additionally, executive director Sunil Shah is CEO of Pepe Jeans Ireland and Country Manager for Tommy Hilfiger. Shah operates seven Pepe Jeans and 16 Tommy Hilfiger retail stores in Ireland.

ABOUT BO-PIED

Founded in 1979, Bo-Pied began with a store on the East Shore area of Montreal. From there, the company slowly expanded its doors count around Montreal under the Bo-Pied and Naturalizer banners to 10 by 2000. In 2002, Bo-Pied expanded with smaller shop-in-shop concept stores for malls under the Chaussures Tendances banner. Including new ventures with SKECHERS, the company will operate 20 total doors by spring 2011.

ABOUT TOWN SHOES

Over 50 years ago, on May 15 1952, Leonard Simpson opened the first Town Shoes store in Toronto, Ontario at Sunnybrook Plaza, Canada's first shopping centre. Just over one year later, Town opened its second store in Lawrence Plaza, Toronto. Forty years later, that store was converted to a clearance outlet for Town Shoes and eventually became the first Shoe Company store. In 2005, Town Shoes began its national wide expansion plan, opening its first stores outside of Ontario. Town Shoes has over 40 stores and is now in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia. During the last 15 years, The Shoe Company has grown from a local area group of 10 stores to a national chain of over 70 stores, stretching from St. John's, Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia.

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.

*Sporting Goods Intelligence, June 21, 2010

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 SKECHERS' Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009 and SKECHERS' Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2010. The risks included here are not exhaustive. SKECHERS, Shuz 4 U Ltd., Town Shoes and Bo-Pied operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and the companies cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can the companies assess the impact of all such risk factors on their respective businesses 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.


    Source: SKECHERS USA, Inc.