Since I posted my story this morning that mentioned PacSun told brand executives in January that it is dropping closed toe shoes, two high-placed executives at skateboard shoe brands told me the situation has changed since then.
I have a message into PacSun in hopes of clarifying the situation. What I’m hearing is that the industry’s largest customer is dropping most brands, but will keep two or possibly three that also have strong apparel lines. The idea is to have it all merchandise well together.
Also, here is a little more info that was buried deep in an 8-K PacSun filed Jan. 25. I somehow missed this filing, but an eagle-eyed reader just pointed it out to me.
From the 8-K
“The Company has decided to reduce its dependence on the sneaker portion of its footwear business, but plans to continue to sell sandals, slippers and certain sneaker categories. This transition is expected to occur throughout fiscal 2008. For the full 2008 fiscal year, the Company currently expects its footwear business to represent approximately 6-8 percent of total merchandise sales.”
