Latest news with #CrocsInc
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Crocs' New ‘Icon' Store Eyes Experiential Retail
Crocs Inc. wants consumers to have fun with the brand. To that end, the company opened a new 4,000-sq.-ft. 'Icon' store in New York's Soho neighborhood at 543 Broadway that spans the length of an entire city block. The store, which features immersive storytelling, will also host shopping events to create experiential theater for Crocs fans. More from WWD Crocs' CEO Eyes 'Bold Decisions' for Sustainable Growth and Cash Flow Crocs Beats Q2 Expectations, but Remains Cautious on Q3 Here Are All of the Exclusive Shoes Available at the House of Dior New York Flagship The new format is in line with the brand's larger retail strategy, and the concept is Crocs' top-tier innovation destination. In the middle tier are the traditional mainline brand-driven stores, followed by the value-focused outlet doors. At the heart of the focus for the Icon location is the prioritization on personalization and customization. The floor space showcases the entire core Crocs line and its shoe options. There are also two counters where fans can choose their Crocs' Jibbitz™ charms for a bit of self-expression on their purchases, whether on the core Crocs footwear or the brand's tote bags, backpacks and pouches, as well as new personalization product. According to brand president Anne Mehlman, the Broadway site is a 'test-and-learn' door, meaning that learnings will guide future Icon locations, in addition to how best to use the locations to create experiential moments with customers. The ideal Icon stores are in high-traffic spots that have the advantage of local footfall as well as tourist destination points. 'What we're really trying to do is create a store that [gives] more of an immersive consumer experience that centers on personalization — and in an iconic city,' Mehlman said. 'Jibbitz™ charms are the way that we can really personally connect with our consumer.' So why now? 'As the world is becoming more and more digital, and we're interacting more and more digital, [and] we're a digital first company, we think our consumers are also craving some in-person connection,' the Crocs' president said. 'And we also know that in order to really experience our personalization, the best place to do that is in physical retail.' According to Mehlman, the new concept allows consumers to 'physically touch and feel the product, and then have the experience of coming in the store and picking out the Jibbitz [charms] that are unique to them and putting them on their shoes.' The store includes elements of the Soho neighborhood, such as a bodega experience to showcase Crocs' Jibbitz charms. The charms also will include selections unique to New York and SoHo, and won't be available anywhere else. Elevating the Jibbitz options are 14K gold charms and a Swarovski Jibbitz, which can run as high as $300, she said. She described the store idea as 'fashion meets function meets utility and streetwear, with a little bit of a higher-end line that's going to go in the back of our store, which has a separate entrance.' That entrance is at 115 Mercer St., and the higher-end products are part of Crocs' EXP line. EXP represents Crocs' most daring and unconventional silhouettes that feature modern technical capabilities and reimagined archival looks. Melman isn't ruling out the possibility of an online customer personalizing a shoe order prior to shipment but that would be further down the road. One idea for the omni-channel brand is bringing in live-streaming capabilities into the store to bring the digital consumer closer to the physical experience. 'We're already doing that in some of our international locations, so I definitely think there are future ways to mesh the digital and physical experiences,' she said. Looking ahead, Mehlman said the size of each Icon store will be unique to the local city and country, and some may be very small focusing on personalization. She said the SoHo site was 'opportunistic,' and its square footage is slightly larger than the brand's 30 full-line mainline stores. With one U.S. test site under its belt, the next test store will likely be overseas, Mehlman said. Special events at the store will also take center stage when new collaborations are announced. 'The Icon store gives us a great meeting [site because] the fixtures are modular. Right now we have a Barbie showcase,' the president said. 'We have some exciting upcoming events that we're going to be hosting in Soho,' she noted. In contrast, the smaller overseas Icon stores will be built around personalization and, due to its smaller footprint, will feature a more curated Jibbitz™ collection for purchase that's in line with the special attributes of each local city. Separately, Mehlman said the company is remodeling its 34th Street store, and while it won't be a total Icon concept, it will feature a more enhanced shopping experience when the door reopens in the fourth quarter. There are no plans to retrofit other locations, as most are either full-price mall stores or outlet sites. Launch Gallery: Crocs' SoHo Store Raises Store Experience for Consumers [PHOTOS] Best of WWD All the Retailers That Nike Left and Then Went Back Mikey Madison's Elegant Red Carpet Shoe Style [PHOTOS] Julia Fox's Sleekest and Boldest Shoe Looks Over the Years [Photos] Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Crocs' CEO Eyes ‘Bold Decisions' for Sustainable Growth and Cash Flow
Some consumers have become super cautious, but that's not stopping Crocs Inc. CEO from taking some bold steps to ensure sustainable growth on a going-forward basis. 'As we have consistently said, we are not trying to manage our business quarter-to-quarter. We had a solid first half of the year with our brands fueling strong gross profit and cash flow. The current environment in the second half is concerning, and we see that clearly reflected in retail order books,' Crocs CEO Andrews Rees said. 'We strongly believe this is a time to make bold decisions for the future to sustain and advance our durable cash flow model. As a result, we have chosen to amplify certain measures in the second half of the year to protect brand health and profitability.' More from WWD Virality-Driven Beauty Brands Are Reshaping the Industry, but Sustaining Momentum Remains Key Challenge Crocs Beats Q2 Expectations, but Remains Cautious on Q3 Michelle Yeoh Says Yes to Crocs on the Red Carpet With Simone Rocha Siren Clogs at 'Ne Zha II' Premiere Rees told investors in a conference call on Thursday after the company posted second quarter results that a portion of the consumer base is no longer going to stores, and that has impacted the shoe firm's wholesale business. Not only are order books down for the start of the second half, but the lower-end consumer is also making fewer trips to the firm's outlet stores, he said. The decline in orders has the company, in part, expecting a 9 percent to 11 percent decrease in third quarter revenue. Rees emphasized that the projection 'embeds conservative assumptions around returns of cancelations.' He also said the company is losing some shelf space to athletic brands, but is also working on picking up shelf space in the summer with sandals. Despite that early trend, he said there's also been strong trajectory in the sandal business, which is expected to grow next year, helped by new product innovation on clogs slated for the fourth quarter. And the firm is growing its personalization business, 'both in Jibbitz and expanding that beyond Jibbitz into a broader personalization offer,' Rees said. Crocs last week opened its new Icon store at 543 Broadway in the SoHo neighborhood in Manhattan. The concept, which allows for hosting shopping events, also incorporates two areas for personalization options. For the Crocs brand, he said the company, in addition to adjusting its forward receipts, has pulled back on promotional activity across the direct channels since May. 'While this has and will continue to impact our top line, we see this as an opportunity to drive margin dollars over time, support continued cash flow generation and tightened brand control,' Rees said. For the Hey Dude brand, the company accelerated its actions in the channel to support a clean and refreshed marketplace. 'This has resulted in us choosing to take back additional aged inventory and ensure more of our partners are reset with our current product lines,' he said. Those actions will create further headwinds to sales volume over the next several quarters. Rees said the company has taken additional measures that has resulted in $50 million of cost savings as it continues to identify further cost-saving opportunities. The company is also planning its business conservatively by 'proactively pulling back on receipts across both brands for the second half, primarily in the U.S. without losing sight of the bigger picture,' he said. Rees said the company has also accelerated its international business, which has grown from 38 percent of Crocs brand sales in 2022 to 52 percent in the second quarter ended June 30. Other initiatives include diversification in its clog offerings, the development of a strong sandals business and the growth of its personalization category, one that includes its Jibbitz charms. 'Collectively, this diversification should fuel durable long-term growth for years to come,' Rees said. Rees also said the company remains 'laser-focused on its digital-led social-first marketing playbook as this is a key ingredient in sustaining brand heat.' In addition to bringing back franchise favorites, he said the company continues to lean into social commerce as consumers are starting and ending their shopping journeys on social media platforms. 'During the quarter, Crocs remained the No. 1 footwear brand on TikTok shop in the U.S.,' Rees said, adding that a TikTok U.K. platform was recently launched, 'where results have been strong out of the gate.' Looking ahead, Rees said the plan is to 'continue to expand social commerce and live streaming platforms globally, and we expect this to drive new growth opportunities.' As for tariffs and its impact, Rees said the company can 'over the medium term mitigate' the impact of tariffs. That will come from cost savings in the supply chain, negotiations with factories and some price adjustments, he said. For the second quarter the net loss was $492.3 million, or $8.82 a diluted share, against net income of $228.9 million, or $3.77, in the same year-ago quarter. Revenues rose 3.4 percent to $1.15 billion from $1.11 billion. Inventories were higher at $405 million, or up 7.4 percent, versus $377 million last year. That increase reflects in part higher tariff costs. Still a drag on operations is the Hey Dude brand, which continues to show signs of struggle. Rees said over the past 12 months the company has been focused on speaking to a new female consumer, while not losing sight of its core customers. The company is also working on stabilizing the North American market as it lays the groundwork for international growth. 'We believe the Hey dude potential and its community are much greater than the size of the business today, and we're confident that the critical steps we are taking will fuel the potential in the future,' Rees said. Needham analyst Tom Nikic said on Thursday that while there was second quarter improvement for the Hey Dude brand, he isn't so sure the brand will be profitable in either the second half or in 2026. That's due in part to tariffs and an accelerated cleanup of the wholesale channel, while a pullback in performance marketing could hurt direct-to-consumer revenues, the analyst said. Crocs said in December 2021 that it was acquiring the privately owned Hey Dude footwear brand, which had a deal value of $2.5 billion. The transaction was completed in February 2022. Best of WWD All the Retailers That Nike Left and Then Went Back Mikey Madison's Elegant Red Carpet Shoe Style [PHOTOS] Julia Fox's Sleekest and Boldest Shoe Looks Over the Years [Photos] Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Crocs Beats Q2 Expectations, but Remains Cautious on Q3
Both the Crocs and Hey Dude brands gave Crocs Inc. something to brag about in the second quarter. 'We reported a solid second quarter with both our Crocs and Hey Dude brands contributing to our performance, while delivering the highest ever gross profit quarter in company history,' said Crocs CEO Andrew Rees in a statement. More from WWD Crocs' CEO Eyes 'Bold Decisions' for Sustainable Growth and Cash Flow Michelle Yeoh Says Yes to Crocs on the Red Carpet With Simone Rocha Siren Clogs at 'Ne Zha II' Premiere Shoe Firms Producing in Mexico Get 90-Day Tariff Extension Rees added that strong cash flow generation allowed the company to return shareholder value through $133 million in share repurchases and $105 million in debt pay-down. And while the company bested Wall Street's expectations on both adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) and revenue, Rees expressed caution over third-quarter forecasts. 'While we are pleased by this performance, the current operating environment is uncertain and challenging to predict,' the CEO said. 'Against this, we have chosen to focus on managing expenses including the $50 million in cost savings we have already implemented, reducing our inventory receipts, and pulling back on promotional activity to protect brand health in the marketplace.' He explained that while the actions will impact the top line of the business over the short term, they will position the business to drive margin dollars and support continued cash-flow generation over the longer term. The net loss for the second quarter ended June 30 was $492.3 million, or $8.82 a diluted share, against net income of $228.9 million, or $3.77, in the same year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, the diluted EPS was $4.23. Revenues for the quarter rose 3.4 percent to $1.15 billion from $1.11 billion. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) revenues grew 4 percent, while wholesale revenues rose 2.8 percent. Wall Street was expecting adjusted diluted EPS of $4.02 on revenue of $1.14 billion. By brand, Crocs revenues rose 5 percent to $960 million. DTC revenues were up 3.4 percent to $495 million, while wholesale revenues increased 6.8 percent to $465 million. North American revenues fell 6.5 percent to $457 million, while international revenues rose 18.1 percent to $502 million. At Hey Dude, revenues fell 3.9 percent to $190 million. DTC revenues rose 7.6 percent to $90 million, while wholesale revenues were down 12.4 percent to $100 million. For the six months, the net loss was $332.2 million, or $5.94 a diluted share, against net income of $381.4 million, or $6.26, a year ago. Revenues rose 1.8 percent to $2.09 billion from $2.05 billion. For the third quarter, the company continues to expect uncertainty from evolving global trade policy around the consumer. Crocs guided third-quarter revenues to be down 9 percent to 11 percent, at currency rates as of Aug. 4. The company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents totaling $201 million, versus $168 million a year ago. Inventories were higher at $405 million versus $377 million last year. Total borrowings fell to $1.38 billion, compared to $1.53 billion last year. The company last week opened its new Icon store in the SoHo neighborhood of New York. The store at 543 Broadway features immersive storytelling, with the concept enabling the brand to host shopping events to create experiential theater for Crocs fans. Last month, the company said Crocs is collaborating with Aries again on an urban-inspired collection, which follows its 2023 partnership. The collaboration follows partnerships earlier in the year that include a limited edition with Marimekko for spring. The company also has evolved its Crocs Trailbreak, a water-friendly trail sandal from 2010 with a 2.0 version. The updated version is a robust trail shoe — sneaker-sandal hybrid — that launched Crocs new Exp line. Crocs Exp reimagines archival silhouettes, while incorporating the spirit of innovation. Best of WWD All the Retailers That Nike Left and Then Went Back Mikey Madison's Elegant Red Carpet Shoe Style [PHOTOS] Julia Fox's Sleekest and Boldest Shoe Looks Over the Years [Photos]
Fashion Network
a day ago
- Business
- Fashion Network
Crocs sinks after third-quarter forecast for sharp sales decline
Crocs Inc. shares dropped after the shoe company said its efforts to save money amid consumer pressure and tariffs would drive down revenue. The company forecast a third-quarter revenue decline of approximately 9% to 11%. Analysts on average expected sales to gain less than 1%. The stock fell as much as 19% in Thursday premarket trading in New York. Shares are down 4% this year, trailing a 7.9% gain for S&P 500. The company will focus on managing its expenses, including cost savings, inventory reduction and a pullback in promotions, chief executive officer Andrew Rees said in a statement. 'Although these actions will impact the top line of our business in the short term, they will position our business to win,' he said.
Fashion Network
a day ago
- Business
- Fashion Network
Crocs sinks after third-quarter forecast for sharp sales decline
Crocs Inc. shares dropped after the shoe company said its efforts to save money amid consumer pressure and tariffs would drive down revenue. The company forecast a third-quarter revenue decline of approximately 9% to 11%. Analysts on average expected sales to gain less than 1%. The stock fell as much as 19% in Thursday premarket trading in New York. Shares are down 4% this year, trailing a 7.9% gain for S&P 500. The company will focus on managing its expenses, including cost savings, inventory reduction and a pullback in promotions, chief executive officer Andrew Rees said in a statement. 'Although these actions will impact the top line of our business in the short term, they will position our business to win,' he said.
