Shoe-in

Stuart Jenkins, founder of Blumaka, joins us again to talk about his latest learnings and insights into footwear foams. We talk about the outdated manufacturing processes that need to be updated in order to reduce waste and emissions and get to a more "ethical" path for footwear companies.

FDRA's new Vice President of Corporate Engagement Sandi Mines is no stranger to the shoe industry having grown up in a shoe family and worked at the helm of Footwear News. Listen in as Sandi shares her "shoe story" with our audience and unveils her bullish plans for FDRA in 2022 and beyond.

Supply chain extraordinaire and current Head of Procurement & Commercial Excellence at Wayfair, Pete Mento stops by Shoe-In to try and tackle the many difficult challenges facing the global supply chain in 2022. We may not have all the answers, but we sure do have a ton of questions. If supply chain is top-of-mind for you today, you won't want to miss this episode and Pete Mento's many hot takes.    

Shoe Carnival President & CEO Mark Worden is back this time with former Shoe Station President & CEO Brent Barkin to discuss Shoe Carnival's acquisition of the Mobile, Alabama-based Shoe Station. Mark and Brent unveil their plans for the New Year as the two foundational family retailers join forces to grow Shoe Carnival into a larger footwear retailer powerhouse. Digital engagement coupled with bricks and mortar activation is the name of the game for these two footwear execs.

Taken from a great webinar hosted by FDRA and Centric Software, this episode dives into key insights into supply chain strategy and how technology is helping companies make better, faster decisions across their supply chains!

Export Now Founder and Chairman Frank Lavin joins Shoe-In Show this week to discuss his recent piece in Forbes exploring the fraught U.S-China relationship. With years of diplomatic experience across many U.S. administrations, Frank has a keen eye on the current challenges impacting the world's most important geopolitical relationship. Curious to explore tips for U.S. companies caught in the crossfire? Make sure you listen to this episode! Articles referenced during our discussion: Forbes The National Interest The American Interest Grab Frank's book here

Inflation and supply chain shortages will continue through the rest of 2021 and likely into the new year with consumer demand outpacing supply. The Rockport Company is leveraging First Insight’s predictive analytics solution and real-time voice-of-customer price elasticity data to optimize their assortments and pricing to effectively navigate the supply chain disruption and inflation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Hear from Lisa Laich, Chief Marketing Officer and Steven Holt, President at The Rockport Company, and Jim Shea, Chief Commercial Officer of First Insight, one of the world’s leading Experience Management (XM) platforms that empowers companies to incorporate the Voice of the Customer through the use of online consumer engagement tools.

Mario Gallione, President of Journeys, joins us on this episode to discuss how they are dealing with supply chain issues, how they are rethinking mall traffic measurement, and how they are preparing for continued consumer changes in 2022. A must listen to this fun and insightful episode where the Metaverse also gets a mention!

BBC International's fearless leader Josue Solano stops by Shoe-In to discuss the current turmoil impacting the footwear supply chain, his expectations for 2022 production and sales, and the innovative ways BBC is ensuring it has key product at the right time for its retail customers.

Shoe-In welcomes FitForCommerce Senior Consultant Chelsea Mueller as she unveils her three key strategies to successful shoe selling in the current retail environment. No matter where you're selling your shoes - in-store, online, or out of the back of your station wagon - this episode is for you.

Matt and Andy cover the latest FDRA data showing October shoe retail prices continued to edge higher for the 6th straight month. What's data, what's behind the continued surge and will it continue? Listen to this important episode to find out!

FDRA's Chief Economist Gary Raines joins Shoe-In Show to review all the critical economic updates impacting the Shoeconomy heading into holiday 2021.

FDRA's own Thomas Crockett stops by Shoe-In to join in on a political potpourri discussion around the vaccine mandate, infrastructure bill negotiations, China trade, and more.

FDRA asked 1,000 families where they plan to buy their shoes this holiday season, how much they plan to spend and what type of shoes they plan to buy.

This week Matthew Rubel shares some real wisdom on how companies need to think and act more strategically to deal with continued business disruption. We cover supply chain costs, retail/consumer demand shifts, long-term inflation, and capitalization issues - with Matt going through each area and laying out clear things shoe companies should focus efforts and energy on (consumers to employees) to ensure they hit the mark. This is a must listen episode to understand key changes we face as an industry and how to build real agility!

Listen in as Dr. David Priest provides the footwear industry with critical updates around COVID, the delta variant, vaccine mandates, and more.

Matt, Andy and Jasmine check in with Mark Worden, the new president and CEO of Shoe Carnival, during his first week on the job. Mark lays out his bullish vision for the family footwear retailer's future with a focus on bricks and mortar and in-person shopping. Learn Mark's unique background and perspective and find out what shoes he currently wears and what he plans to buy next in Jasmine's Whatcha Got? Whatcha Gettin'? segment.

There are a growing number of ecomm platforms you have to be on to grow shoe sales, but they all come with different data and content requirements, and systems making it a real headache to manage. In this episode we are joined by Syndic8 CEO Chris John who explains how brands must think about their data and how to use new technology to be on as many platforms as possible, as seamlessly as possible. If you want to grow eyes on your product and increase sales, give this episode a listen!

Continuing the conversation from lasts week's episode our panel adds more ideas and takeaways on how to create better supply chain strategies to curb costs and headaches. A must listen on the ways brands and suppliers are getting creative in this age of supply chain chaos.

Supply chains costs and shipping capacity issues remain large challenges to our industry. This panel discussion, from FDRA's 2021 Supply Chain Summit, provides some ideas and insights from various aspects of the shoe industry to help plant some new ideas and tips to better manage the chaos.