SKECHERS to Launch Shopkins Back-to-School Footwear Collection
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SKECHERS USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX) today announced the planned Back-to-School launch of a SKECHERS Kids footwear collection for girls featuring the popular Shopkins characters.
SPK by SKECHERS (Photo: Business Wire)
“We’re excited to expand our award-winning SKECHERS Kids line with styles featuring Shopkins characters, which are in demand by kids across the country,” said Michael Greenberg, president of SKECHERS. “Building on the success of our kids’ collection, we feel that adding Shopkins-branded shoes will be a perfect fit for the countless girls who already love wearing our playful, colorful and comfortable footwear.”
“It’s a thrill for us to welcome SKECHERS to the Shopkins-licensed consumer products program,” added Paul Solomon, Co-CEO of Moose Toys. “We want to bring our fans quality product extensions that best capture Shopkins’ fun and fashionable aesthetic. This deal is the beginning of a great partnership between two outstanding in-demand brands.”
Born two decades ago, the SKECHERS Kids collection offers great products for toddlers to tweens with fun, bright and lightweight designs that kids everywhere love for school and play. Popular characters like Twinkle Toes and Z-Strap have helped build awareness for the line which has expanded to include innovative lighted footwear styles. Additionally, SKECHERS Kids won the Excellence in Children’s Design awards from Footwear Plus in 2002 and 2013 and was named the Best Children’s Footwear Collection by Earnshaw’s in 2016.
Since launching in 2014, Shopkins has become a global phenomenon, offering over 100 different Shopkins characters each season, an animated webisode series with over 1 billion views on YouTube alone, and the Shopkins 12-Pack, which was the top-selling toy in the US in 2015, according to The NPD Group. In 2016, Shopkins finished the year with over $1 billion in retail sales as the No. 1 girls’ brand in nine categories in the United States, including apparel (basics and sleep), bedding, party, stationery, accessories, seasonal and home. Shopkins now has over 210 licensees and 18 agents globally supporting the growth of the brand.
The co-branded SPK by SKECHERS footwear collection will be available in young girls’ sizes at SKECHERS retail stores and online at www.skechers.com. Products in the line will be designed, developed and marketed through a multi-year licensing partnership between SKECHERS and Moose Toys.
About SKECHERS USA, Inc.
SKECHERS USA, Inc., based in Manhattan Beach, California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle footwear for men, women and children, as well as performance footwear for men and women. SKECHERS footwear is available in the United States and over 160 countries and territories worldwide via department and specialty stores, more than 2,055 SKECHERS Company-owned and third-party-owned retail stores, and the Company’s e-commerce websites. The Company manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia and the Middle East, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Canada, Japan, throughout Europe and Latin America. For more information, please visit skechers.com and follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/SKECHERS) and Twitter (twitter.com/SKECHERSUSA).
About Moose Toys
Moose Toys has a simple mission - to make children happy! Over the last 15 years, the business has earned a solid reputation as a leader in innovation. Time and time again, Moose has shown an innate ability to respond to emerging trends and create brands that dominate the market.
Most recently this was proven with the success of the global phenomenon Shopkins! The brand continues to break all records in the collectable category; and with 900 million units sold to date, these pint size inanimate objects have reinvigorated how kids collect and play.
This family run business has seen tremendous growth over the past four years solidifying its position as the 5th biggest toy manufacturer in the US by year-end 2016. Success extends to the recent development of content, entertainment and global licensing deals for Shopkins and partnerships with Disney and Universal to co-create collectable lines.
Moose creates, manufactures and markets brands across the collectable, arts, activity, action figure, dolls and youth electronics categories featuring much-loved brands such as: Shopkins, Little Live Pets, Beados, Happy Places, The Grossery Gang, The Trash Pack and Mighty Beanz.
Moose Toys calls Australia home and has teams across Los Angeles, Hong Kong, China, London, Paris and Vietnam, employing more than 350 staff and distributing to over 100 countries.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Skechers’ future domestic and international growth, financial results and operations including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and international expansion, opening of new stores and additional expenditures, and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements 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 economic, political and market conditions including the uncertainty of sustained recovery in Europe; 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, especially in the highly competitive performance footwear market; 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’ annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2017. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates 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.
SKECHERS USA
Jennifer Clay, 310-937-1326
jennc@skechers.com
Source: SKECHERS USA, Inc.
Released Jul 11, 2017 • 9:00 am EDT