Pace | Increase Shoe Department Profits by Over 300%

Swezey's (founded in 1894) , a regional retail chain in five Long Island - New York communities, sells family moderate to designer apparel and accessories. Their combined locations total over 300,000 square feet with competition including Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Kohls, as well as major national chains and local, independent specialty stores.

Growing steadily, Swezey's has added two new stores in the last two years. Their footwear business, however, was another story. Once a thriving business, but as competition increased, the lease operation failed to keep pace. Assortments and sizes became generic over time, and failed to provide adequate differentiation. No longer was Swezey's positioned as a top of mind choice in their markets. Footwear sales slipped to 3.6% penetration the year prior to Swezey's replacing their leased operator with a Pace outsourcing solution.

In May 2000, Pace International was retained with responsibilities over all purchasing, promotion, merchandising and human resources in footwear. Pace outsourcing provided Swezey's with all the simplicity of leasing, but the profit picture is entirely different now. Within six months:

Footwear sales increased to over 10% weekly penetrations
Inventory turnover averaged 3.2
Maintained margins ended at 45%

And

Swezey's footwear profit contribution grew from 15% for the leased operation, to 45% using Pace's outsourcing solution

Pace started in three of the five stores with men's and women's. For spring of 2002, footwear is being expanded to all stores and childrens is being added.

Increasing Shoe Profits An Easy Proposition? You Bet!

Face it. Industry experts have consistently identified well run footwear as having superior destination value. But due to the challenges in managing footwear inventories, frequently retailers leased or avoided footwear altogether. Pace can offer you a very easy way to add significant footwear profits and increase the overall sales in your store.

Let us show you how to outsource your footwear sales and reap benefits you never thought imaginable.

Know and stock only what sells! -- Use our precision buying techniques, to drastically reduce dead inventory so you can avoid being "over assorted". You'll get faster turn on your inventory.
With 40 years in the footwear industry, we have established strong vendor relationships and leveraged buying power. You'll be able to actually triple your margins on shoes.
Don't resort to discounting to move inventory. Retailers like Nordstrom's have been extremely successful because of their inherent footwear mentality. Flatly put, you get this with our program.
You'll have a footwear department that creates "top of mind" preference with shoppers and gives your store increased traffic and sales in every department.
Buying and merchandising is executed by individuals who have had full P&L responsibility.

Call me today for a FREE assessment of your store's business potential. Learn how simple it can be for footwear to significantly boost your store's profits. Call 1.585.968.4021.

Richard Siegel

Determine Merchandising Requirements for Free
You can check out my OTB analyzer for FREE. See how your precise inventory requirements can be determined to meet merchandising requirements and stock your store with what sells!

Attending the NRF Convention?
Meet Richard Siegel at the National Retail Federation's National Convention in New York City, January 13 through 16. Call 1.585.968.4021 to schedule an appointment.

More About Richard Siegel
Richard Siegel, founder and Chairman of Pace International, graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Philosophy. In 1964 he founded a retail shoe chain and grew it to 30 stores. In addition, for 30 years, Richard has consulted and been an invited speaker in the US, Europe and Canada in the retail, technology and biochemical industries.

Starting in 1967, Richard developed Pace Software for his retail chain. Footwear News ran a full-page story featuring Pace’s groundbreaking integration of technology with retail processes. Pace Software was purchased and installed in 250 leading retailers.

Richard was invited to present Pace concepts for ten years at Nation Retail Federation’s (NRF) Annual Convention. For 15 years, Richard was elected as a Director, on the Executive Committee and Independent Board of NRF.

A member of Turnaround Management Association (TMA), Richard has been engaged as Interim CEO in turnaround engagements.

Richard is a member of the Institute of Business Forecasting, the Outsourcing Institute and has been featured in numerous industry publications such as Nation’s Business, Stores Magazine, Footwear Plus, and Footwear News.

Richard is married with two daughters.

Pace International, Inc.

Call Toll-Free: 1.585.968.4021 | Email Us: RSiegel@pace-inc.com