Genesco Inc. is an American publicly owned specialty retailer of branded footwear and accessories and is a wholesaler of branded and licensed footwear based in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded as the Jarman Shoe Company in 1924 as a footwear manufacturer, the company changed its name to the General Shoe Company in 1931 and became a public company in 1939. The company took its current name, Genesco, in 1959. Genesco exited footwear manufacturing in 2002 and now contracts with independent, third parties located outside the United States to manufacture its branded and licensed footwear. In June 2011, Genesco acquired U.K. retail chain and web business Schuh, which gave them an already well-established grounding in a market outside of the U.S.
Payless ShoeSource Worldwide, LLC, is an American multinational discount footwear chain. Established in 1956 by cousins Louis and Shaol Pozez, Payless was a privately held company owned by Blum Capital, and Golden Gate Capital. In 1961, it became a public company as the Volume Shoe Corporation, which merged with The May Department Stores Company in 1979. In the 1980s, Payless was widely known in the U.S. for its Pro Wings line of discount sneakers, which often had Velcro straps instead of laces. In 1996, Payless became an independent publicly held company. In 2004, Payless announced it would exit the Parade chain and would close 100 Payless Shoe outlets. On August 17, 2007, the company acquired the Stride Rite Corporation and changed its name to Collective Brands, Inc. As of 2020, Payless is owned by a group of investors led by Alden Global Capital and Axar Capital Management.
Foot Locker, Inc. is an American multinational sportswear and footwear retailer headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in over 40 countries.
Shoe Carnival Inc. is an American retailer of family footwear. The company operates 429 stores throughout the midwest, south, and southeast regions, and Puerto Rico. It was founded by David Russell in 1978 and is headquartered in Evansville, Indiana.
An outlet store, factory outlet or factory store is a brick and mortar or online store where manufacturers sell their merchandise directly to the public. Products at outlet stores are usually sold at reduced prices compared to regular stores due to being overstock, closeout, returned, factory seconds, or lower-quality versions manufactured specifically for outlets. Traditionally, a factory outlet was a store attached to a factory or warehouse, sometimes allowing customers to watch the production process, such as in the original L.L. Bean store. In modern usage, outlet stores are typically manufacturer-branded stores such as Gap or Bon Worth grouped together in outlet malls. The invention of the factory outlet store is often credited to Harold Alfond, founder of the Dexter Shoe Company.
Steve & Barry's was an American retail clothing chain, featuring casual clothing, footwear and accessories. Headquartered in Port Washington, New York, the chain operated 276 stores in 39 states before liquidating throughout 2008 and 2009.
Hat World, Inc. is an American retailer specializing in athletic headwear. It primarily operates under the Lids brand with stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom plus various websites. The majority of the stores operate in shopping malls and factory outlet centers.
The Aldo Group, branded and stylised as ALDO, is a Canadian multinational retailer specializing in shoes and accessories. Established in 1972 in Montreal, Quebec, the company was founded by Aldo Bensadoun. Its corporate headquarters are based in Saint-Laurent, Quebec. Stores in Canada and the U.S. are owned by Aldo Group, while international stores are franchised.
Thom McAn is an American brand of shoes and was formerly a retail chain. Its shoes have been sold in Kmart and Sears stores. It consists of leather-dress, casual, and athletic shoes. Until the 1990s, Thom McAn had hundreds of retail stores in the US, and was one of the oldest and best-known shoe retailers in the country. As of late 2008, the brand was controlled by Sears Brands, LLC.
Nine West, also known as 9 West, is an American online fashion retailer which is based in White Plains, New York. It was founded in 1983 and closed its brick and mortar stores business in 2018. Its products continue to be sold at other retailers.
The Athlete's Foot (TAF) is a global retailer of athletic inspired lifestyle and streetwear — footwear, apparel and accessories. Its global headquarters are located Stans, Switzerland and US headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.
Rivergate Mall is a super-regional shopping mall located in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, United States, just outside of Nashville, the state capital of Tennessee. Opened in October 1971, the mall features 1,129,035 square feet (104,890.8 m2) of gross leasable area, with approximately 80 stores and restaurants, as well as a food court. Rivergate Mall has two anchor stores: Dillard's and JCPenney. There are two vacant anchor stores that were formerly Macy's and Sears. Its original anchor stores were Cain-Sloan, Castner Knott, and JCPenney. The mall sits in the core of a shopping district that is shared by the city of Goodlettsville and the Nashville neighborhood of Madison. This area is colloquially referred to by locals as "Rivergate," after the mall. Rivergate Mall is managed by Hendon Properties.
Johnston & Murphy is an American footwear and clothing company based in Nashville, Tennessee. Johnston & Murphy designs, sources, markets and distributes footwear, apparel, leather goods and luggage. A subsidiary of Genesco Inc., the Johnston & Murphy Group operates retail and wholesale businesses.
schuh is a Scottish footwear retailer based in Livingston, Scotland. It has 132 stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company is predominantly a branded shoe stockist, selling over 80 brands, including: Converse, Vans, UGG, Nike, Adidas as well as its own schuh label.
John Vincent "Vince" Camuto was an American women's footwear designer and shoe industry executive, best known for co-founding the women's fashion brand Nine West. Following the 1999 sale of Nine West to Jones Apparel Group for $900 million, Camuto became CEO and Chief Creative Officer of a new fashion company, Camuto Group, maker of the Jessica Simpson brand. On October 10, 2018, Vince Camuto was acquired by Authentic Brands Group, as part of the company's definitive agreement to purchase a majority stake in the intellectual property of the Camuto Group's proprietary brands in partnership with DSW Inc.
Tillys is an American retail clothing company that sells an assortment of branded apparel, accessories, shoes, and more. Tillys is headquartered and operated from Irvine, California.
Wayne Elsey is the founder and former CEO of Soles4Souls, a Nashville-based nonprofit organization that collects shoes from footwear companies and shoe drives. After leaving Soles4Souls in 2012, he established Elsey Enterprises, a branding and marketing firm. In 2013 founded Funds2Orgs, a social enterprise for helping nonprofit organizations raise funds.
Off-price is a trading format based on discount pricing. Off-price retailers are independent of manufacturers and buy large volumes of branded goods directly from them. The off-price retail model relies on the purchase of over-produced, or excess, branded goods at a lower price, thus being able to sell to consumers at a discount compared to other stores which purchased an initial run. Among the largest retailers of this type are TJX Companies and Ross Stores. The model is more common in countries that import fashion-oriented or household goods, as the discount role in producer countries is usually filled by factory outlets or small-scale open-air marketplaces.
Edison Brothers Stores, Inc., was a retail conglomerate based in St. Louis, Missouri. It operated numerous retail chains mainly located in shopping malls, mostly in the fields of shoes, clothing and entertainment, with Bakers Shoes as its flagship chain. The company was liquidated in 1999, though some of the chains it operated continued under different owners.
Overland Footwear Group is a New Zealand and Australian footwear and fashion retail company. It operates the Merchant 1948 and Mi Piaci retail chains in both countries and produces its own footwear lines.
