Genesco Executives on the Key to Staying Relevant + What’s Ahead for 2025
Genesco’s evolutionary drive extends to every part of the business.
Some of the largest changes to come to fruition over the last few years have been at its storied Johnston & Murphy label. The footwear brand, which will turn 175 next year, has revamped its merchandise selection, with apparel now accounting for half of the mix. It also boasts new marketing campaigns and a refreshed store design.
These updates are all important pieces of the puzzle as Genesco works to widen Johnston & Murphy’s consumer base by targeting younger consumers. This can most notably be seen in the brand’s new “Not Your Dad’s Shoe Company” campaign that was released in April. The idea of the spot was to highlight the brand’s transition into more-casual, hybrid dress product that might appeal to younger customers.
Over at Schuh, the U.K.-based retailer founded in 1981 by Sandy Alexander and acquired by Genesco in 2011, its story is one of significant growth. Initially, Schuh had 47 stores before joining Genesco and now has 125 locations across the U.K. and Ireland. What’s more, the retailer has also invested in new technology, ultimately eliminating cash wraps in its stores and empowering employees with handheld devices that deliver real-time stock management to fulfill customers’ needs. This tech has been such a hit that it has made its way across to pond in some capacity to Journeys stores.
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And at the all-important wholesale and licensing division, Genesco Brands Group, a great deal of work has been done on the product side to elevate the company’s shoe offerings with a shift away from commodity footwear to more comfort-focused merchandise. The group has also seen success by leveraging digital platforms like its direct-to-consumer Nashville Shoe Warehouse e-commerce platform, and by having the ability to react quickly to consumer demand and changing trends.
Here, leaders from Genesco Brands Group, Johnston & Murphy and Schuh discuss some of the opportunities for their businesses as they look ahead into 2025.
DANNY EWOLDSEN, PRESIDENT, JOHNSTON & MURPHY
“This brand has so much opportunity. It all stems from an amazing heritage. Johnston & Murphy was founded in 1850, so next year we’ll be celebrating our 175th anniversary, which is something we’re really proud of. The big opportunity for us is to continue to do what we have always done, which is to evolve to meet the needs of our consumers. For most of our history, we made a living dressing our consumer for the office and for special occasions. Today, thanks to an expanded product assortment across footwear, apparel and accessories, we can outfit our consumer for all facets of their lives: the office, vacation or even a round of golf. We’re swimming in a much bigger pond, which gives us the opportunity to grow share in new categories, expand our distribution and, most importantly, acquire new customers.”
COLIN TEMPLE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, SCHUH
“Our opportunities involve overcoming inflation, which is a big challenge. At least now, I think prices are probably at a plateau. Other than that, as a retailer that sells third-party brands, we’ve got to make sure we’re efficient, while also making sure we offer a great service in our stores, because that differentiates us from our competitors. And just like Genesco, we believe in an omnichannel approach to retail. We have to show up where are customers are shopping. So we are making sure to optimize the customer journeys to be as seamless as possible going forward.”
RICK HIGGINS, PRESIDENT, GENESCO BRANDS GROUP
“Some of the biggest opportunities from our perspective go back to homing in on the consumer. The customer is so eager to adopt newness. That’s exciting to us because it gives us multiple entry points, from having a much more diverse product assortment to being able to engage with that customer. Since they are looking for newness more often, it seems, at this point, that’s going to help lay some success in 2025 across the board. And really, our commodity-to- comfort approach with the Dockers position is probably going to be our leading story across the board. That’s exciting. It’s also about being able to react to what the consumer is asking for. And the other thing is, because of the way the market has moved so quickly, this compression of the consumer cycle has helped us develop a more reactive response time away from a traditional development season. We’re reacting more in-season, to cut down lead times, to react to consumer demand, to bring product to market quicker than ever before.”
