https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2016/12/13/caleres-buys-allen-edmonds-for-255-million.html
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
Has this not happened already with most of the American shoe industry? I don't think anyone is being a prophet of doom, it's just hard to imagine that Calaris, has any interest in continuing the current AE model of US made shoesThere is something in the American soul that loves bad news and is always eager to make the assumption that any change will be for the worst. As a Registered Skeptic I refuse to leap to judgement. Come the day when the phrase "made in the USA" no longer appears on the AE label I will concede the jeremiads were correct. Until then, should I need another pair of dress shoes I will look first to AE. Of course, that day may be years in the future since I already have wall full!
Oldsarge,Attacks on Twitter dropping value? Really? I'm sorry but I seriously doubt that there is a CEO in the US that gives a rat's patootie about what The Donald says on Twitter. Carrier and Ford squeezed huge tax advantages out of the gov and still sent thousands of jobs to Mexico. There's a cartoon running around that has a little girl on her phone saying, "Trump? If I don't get a $7,000,000 bailout I'm outsourcing my lemonade stand to Mexico." That's how much his Twitter matters. Now, off all political topics and back to the sackcloth and ashes over this change of ownership.
As a certain someone has been famously known to say lately..... "Wrong!"I'm sorry but I seriously doubt that there is a CEO in the US that gives a rat's patootie about what The Donald says on Twitter.
Maybe, Yes, I agree that a sale was an inevitable consequence of AE's recent success, but the wholesale move of production overseas I would feel is unlikely. But first, 'cause I know he's likely to read this thread, thank you Paul for making a quality American-made product we can argue over. If we (collectively) didn't care, this whole topic would be a non-starter. So thanks for all you've done up to now for AE. I'm presuming you may be on a retainer. Correct?Most of us are realists and are capable of seeing past the ballyhoo of administration transition economics. I guarantee you that this has been in the works for far longer than Trump has been president-elect. The writing on the wall is bold but simple. Many people in Port Washington better be getting their resumes in order. By this time next year, there will be some Asian (China and/or India) AE models.
No company can successfully be all things for all people. There is only so much diffusion you can do before you start watering down the brand. This has been tried over and over and over with the same result. Even now you have Coach and Ralph Lauren pulling out of retail stores like Macy's because it has damaged the brands image. If you start selling 100 dollar Chinese AE's at Macy's (which I imagine is a plausible scenario) then they are destroying whatever element of exclusivity AE has left. People like exclusivity.Maybe, Yes, I agree that a sale was an inevitable consequence of AE's recent success, but the wholesale move of production overseas I would feel is unlikely. But first, 'cause I know he's likely to read this thread, thank you Paul for making a quality American-made product we can argue over. If we (collectively) didn't care, this whole topic would be a non-starter. So thanks for all you've done up to now for AE. I'm presuming you may be on a retainer. Correct?
Okay, playing Carnak (old Johnny Carson reference). I DON'T believe AE's future earnings growth is via selling the same volume for 50% more; there just isn't that large a market for $500 dollar shoes, regardless of country of origin. Nah, I'd be pretty confident that AE would, akin to men's clothing, introduce a "diffusion" line of well-styled, foreign-manufactured, shoes. Imagine a Fifth Avenue in a cheaper leather, composite sole, made overseas, retailing for about $100. Purists (i.e. "us") are likely not to buy them (rain shoes?) but that price point would be much more appealing to the large swath of Americans who don't own, or plan to own, multiple pairs of dress shoes (yes, they do exist!). To me that's the ticket to revenue growth. They keep the Port Washington manufacturing facility, which is already working at/near capacity, and off shore the diffusion line, which ends up at places like Macys and perhaps even Mens' Wearhouse. Nordstrom can continue to sell "main line" AE, and the mail order and shoe banks stuff stays pretty much the same. The new parent company makes more money. Everyone's happy.