Keen Footwear Won't Raise Prices Because of Tariffs in 2025, But It Could Be A Shoe Sector Outlier
Outdoor footwear firm Keen Inc. said it won't implement any tariff-related price increases for the balance of 2025.
'We recognize this is not a simple or easy choice in today's climate—but it's the right one,' company founder and CEO Rory Fuerst wrote in a letter to Keen's partners.
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'We believe it's our responsibility to support our retail partners and fans through this period of uncertainty. By holding our prices steady, we aim to help you maintain strong consumer relationships and continue delivering the value and quality people expect from Keen,' Fuerst explained in the letter.
The family-owned footwear firm said it continues to stand by a core belief, which is that 'when things get tough, you show up for the people who matter most.'
Because Keen is backed by a diversified supply chain, including owned manufacturing with a factory in the U.S.A., and proactive planning, the shoe company is 'fortunate to be in a position to absorb these impacts without passing them on to its community,' the company said.
Keen is best known for its introduction of a hybrid sandal in 2003 called the Newport, which combines the openness of a water sandal with the toe protection of a rugged shoe. Keen has been PFAS free since 2018. Last year, the company introduced its first lifestyle sneaker, the trail-inspired KS86. The Portland-based firm last year also introduced an OSHA-friendly work shoe that looks more like a basketball sneaker than a safety shoe.
Keen isn't the only shoe company that has been monitoring the retail landscape amid the backdrop of rising duties. Earlier this year, Twisted X CEO Prasad Reddy also said that his boot company will not raise prices, even though most are made in China. Reddy told Footwear News that a large portion of its wholesale business is comprise of independent retailers who would see their businesses become severely impacted by any price increase. And while absorbing the extra cost would impact Twisted X's bottom line, Reddy told FN that the company 'can absorb it better than the end consumer or the retailer.'
Many other larger footwear firms have already said that they are likely to increase prices on some shoe styles. Steve Madden Ltd.'s CEO Edward Rosenfeld said in February that price increases on some items could occur this fall as the company continues to diversify production out of China. Crocs is taking a wait-and-see approach, embedding an extra 10 percent tariff on goods imported from China in company earnings guidance for the year, but keeping open the possibility that it might need to raise prices over the longer term. Columbia Sportswear is doing the same thing, absorbing most of the 10 percent base increase, but keeping close tabs on essentially the industry's best practices for the back half of the year.
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