After a decade of declining prices, footwear makers at all levels are raising prices. The mass-market Payless recently increased prices on shoes in stores, though it won’t say by how much.
Brown Shoe, which makes Via Spiga and Buster Brown footwear and hasn’t altered prices in years, plans an increase of 5 percent to 12 percent for fall.
The moves reflect higher costs in China, which makes about 85 percent of shoes sold in the U.S., as well as higher fuel costs and the weak U.S. dollar.
15%
Amount Nine West plans to boost shoe prices on some styles next year
4.3%
Amount that U.S. footwear prices fell in the last 10 years, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports
10%-15%
Amount shoe makers will raise prices in the next year, according to one analyst’s estimate