Skechers Opens Flagship Retail Store on Famed Rue De Rivoli in Paris
PARIS – 12 August 2020 – Global lifestyle brand Skechers has opened a flagship store on the famed Rue de Rivoli, one of the biggest shopping boulevards in Paris. The new store offers a full Skechers retail experience that will appeal to locals and eventually returning visitors to shop an expanded range of the latest Skechers lifestyle and performance footwear and apparel collections for men, women and kids.
“Skechers has built a solid and loyal consumer base in France, and Parisians love to wear the brand, so it’s exciting to be opening a high-profile flagship store on Rue de Rivoli,” said Stéphane Drapier, general manager of Skechers USA France. “With the exceptional amount of pedestrian traffic on this world-famous shopping street, we expect this store to be an impactful showpiece, drawing in consumers to try-on and experience the comfort and style of Skechers for themselves.”
“Skechers stores offer the best retail venue for shoppers to directly experience the vast assortment of our lifestyle and performance footwear, and this flagship location will reinforce Skechers as a global leader in footwear to consumers in Paris,” added David Weinberg, chief operating officer of Skechers. “Our business in France was up low double digits in 2019 and on track for continued growth prior to the pandemic. When nearly all businesses closed in March this year, we were just a couple weeks away from the originally scheduled opening of this beautiful store on Rue de Rivoli. Establishing a location in the center of Paris is a testament to our belief that Skechers will remain a go-to footwear brand in France and across Europe as the recovery continues and consumers seek comfort and quality along with style during this challenging year.”
The Skechers flagship store, located at Rue De Rivoli 102 (at the corner of Rue Saint-Denis), is situated in the popular shopping district near the Tour Saint-Jacques with convenient access via the Châtelet Metro station, and a few blocks from the Right Bank of the Seine along with major cultural destinations including the Louvre. The 545 m2 (5,859 ft2) store features a high-resolution digital screen showcasing Skechers’ fashion-forward content in the entryway draws the hundreds of thousands of pedestrians who walk past the store every day. Once inside, consumers will find an inspired mid-century modern design with sustainable features including LED lighting and power-efficient HVAC as well as ample graphic displays highlighting the collections of men’s, women’s and kids’ lifestyle and performance footwear and apparel in a layout designed for flexibility and seasonal change.
The store opened with the same commitment to safety that Skechers is employing at all retail locations. Associates follow a rigorous sanitizing schedule (including high-touch, high-traffic areas), practice social distancing, and wear face coverings for their protection and that of shoppers.
The Skechers flagship store joins locations in Aeroville Mall outside Paris, Les Terrasses du Port and Plan de Campagne both in Marseille, as well as Aix en Provence, Toulon, Béziers, Montpellier and Bayonne. There are more than 3,615 Skechers destinations worldwide and more than 90 percent of the stores around the globe have reopened, including all locations in France. Skechers will limit store openings for the remainder of the year, with only locations in development prior to COVID-19 proceeding during this period.
About Skechers USA France, S.A.S. and Skechers USA, Inc.
Skechers USA France, S.A.S. is a subsidiary of Skechers USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX), which is based in Manhattan Beach, California. Skechers designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and children. The Company’s collections are available in the United States and over 170 countries and territories via department and specialty stores, and direct to consumers through 3,615 Company- and third-party-owned retail stores and e-commerce websites. The Company manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia, Israel and Mexico, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Canada, Japan, India, Europe and Latin America. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. 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 the disruption of business and operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic; international economic, political and market conditions including the challenging consumer retail markets in the United States; 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, 2019 and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2020. More specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic has had and is currently having a significant impact on Skechers’ business, financial conditions, cash flow and results of operations. Forward-looking statements with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic include, without limitation, Skechers’ plans in response to this pandemic. At this time, there is significant uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic, including without limitation, (i) the duration and extent of the impact of the pandemic, (ii) governmental responses to the pandemic, including how such responses could impact Skechers’ business and operations, as well as the operations of its factories and other business partners, (iii) the effectiveness of Skechers’ actions taken in response to these risks, and (iv) Skechers’ ability to effectively and timely adjust its plans in response to the rapidly changing retail and economic environment. Taking these and other risk factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic into consideration, the dynamic nature of these circumstances means that what is stated in this press release could change at any time, and as a result, actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. 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 we cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all such risk factors on our 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
Released Aug 12, 2020 • 4:00 pm EDT