SKECHERS to Launch Garfield® Collection
Beloved Comic Character to be Featured in BOBS from Skechers Charity Footwear Line
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Hide your lasagna! Global footwear industry leader SKECHERS USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX) today announced that it will introduce a collection within the BOBS from Skechers division featuring the massively popular Garfield character—star of the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip.
BOBS from Skechers launches Garfield footwear collection. (Graphic: Business Wire)
The new line for women will include an assortment of comfortable BOBS from Skechers styles with designs that utilize Garfield as well as his canine sidekick, Odie.
“We are thrilled to be introducing Garfield—possibly the most famous cat on the planet—to our BOBS collection,” said Michael Greenberg, president of SKECHERS. “Thanks to our efforts saving the lives of dogs and cats, pet lovers have been drawn to BOBS. And now with the help of global pop-culture icon Garfield, we’re reaching a broader fanbase and generating more important awareness for the needs of sheltered dogs and cats everywhere.”
Launched by cartoonist Jim Davis on June 19, 1978 and adored by fans around the globe, the Garfield comic strip appears in 2,100 newspapers, is translated into 42 languages, and is read by over 220 million people every day. With books, television series, feature films and more expanding the character’s reach for 40 years, the Mondays-hating feline continues to be massively popular with 16.2 million likes and 15.7 million followers on Facebook alone.
The BOBS for Dogs campaign partners with Best Friends Animal Society—the only national animal welfare organization dedicated exclusively to eradicating the deaths of about two million dogs and cats every year in America’s shelters. For each pair of specially packaged BOBS from Skechers sold in the United States, twenty-five cents is donated to Best Friends to help save the lives of dogs and cats in America’s shelters. SKECHERS has committed to donating at least $3 million dollars to Best Friends for the promotion, Best Friends’ biggest cause marketing partnership to date.
The Garfield collection from BOBS by Skechers for women will be initially available in select SKECHERS retail stores across the United States and Canada and online at www.skechers.com. Availability will expand to third-party retail partners and around the globe for back-to-school season later this year. Products in the line will be designed, developed and marketed through a multi-year licensing partnership between SKECHERS and Garfield licensing manager, Paws, Inc.
To learn more, follow BOBS from SKECHERS on Facebook (facebook.com/BOBSfromSKECHERS), Twitter (twitter.com/BOBS_SKECHERS), Instagram (Instagram.com/BOBS_SKECHERS) and Pinterest (pinterest.com/BOBSSKECHERS), or visit www.BOBSfromSKECHERS.com.
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, 2,438 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 Paws Inc.
Paws, Incorporated was founded in 1981 by cartoonist Jim Davis as a creative house to support Garfield licensing. Today, the company, located in rural Indiana, handles not only the creative angle, but also the business concerns of the corpulent kitty worldwide. Paws, Inc. is a privately held company and the sole owner of the copyrights and trademarks for Garfield and Garfield characters. Follow Garfield on Facebook (facebook.com/Garfield), Twitter (twitter.com/Garfield), Instagram (instagram.com/garfield/) and YouTube (youtube.com/garfieldandfriends), and visit garfield.com, and Garfield’s free educational site, professorgarfield.org.
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, 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 Mar 12, 2018 • 9:00 am EDT