Shoe Zone

Shoe Zone (stylised as shoezone) is a budget footwear retailer in the United Kingdom. It has over 330 stores in different cities and towns throughout the UK and over 2,500 employees. The company has an annual turnover of £156 million.[2] The company's headquarters are located in Leicester, England.[3][4]

A store in Kirkstall, England
Shoe Zone plc
FormerlyBensonshoe
TypePublic limited company
AIM: SHOE
ISINGB00BLTVCF91
IndustryFootwear
Founded21 July 1917 (1917-07-21) in Leicester, England
Founders
  • Michael Smith
  • Christopher Smith
HeadquartersLeicester, England, UK
Number of locations
330 (2023)
Areas served
Key people
RevenueIncrease 156.2m (2022)
Increase 13.6m (2022)
Owners
  • Anthony Smith (29.85%)
  • Charles Smith (23.87%)
Number of employees
2,550 (2023)
Websitewww.shoezone.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

History

The company was founded in England in 1917. Brothers Michael and Christopher Smith bought controlling shares in the footwear company, Bensonshoe in 1980 which had founded by their grandfather.[5] By 2000, the company had 184 stores and late that year acquired The Oliver Group plc which added a further 258 stores to its portfolio.[5]

In September 2007, Shoe Zone acquired the shoe retailer Shoefayre for an undisclosed sum from its parent, The Co-operative Group, adding 300 stores to Shoe Zone's portfolio.[5] In January 2009, it bought Leicester-based Stead & Simpson and converted many stores to the Shoe Zone brand.

In 2021, the company made headlines when Peter Foot stepped down as finance director and was replaced by Terry Boot, a humorous double example of aptronyms.[6]

The company suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns which resulted in declining revenue. In 2020, Shoe Zone raised debt for the first time in 15 years with a £15M CLBILS facility from NatWest.[7]

In 2021, Shoe Zone returned a profit of £9.5M and the company announced it was debt free in January 2022.[2]

Operations

The company sells approximately 16 million pairs of footwear per year.[8] Shoe Zone also has a charity known as the Shoe Zone Trust which raises money for children's charities. Funds raised by the company have totalled over £2.3 million as of May 2022.[9]

References
  1. "Annual Report 2020". Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  2. "Final Results". otp.tools.investis.com. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  3. Mills, Lauren (2017-09-26). "Shoe Zone makes great strides in its 100th year". leicestermercury. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  4. "SHOE ZONE PLC - Overview (Free company information from Companies House)".
  5. "Our Story". Shoezone. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  6. "Shoe Zone announces Terry Boot as next finance boss - replacing Peter Foot". Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  7. "New Coverage: Shoe Zone Remains in Rental Term Talks With Landlords After Missed Payments, in Discussion With Suppliers on Delivery Disruption Amid Falling Revenue". Reorg. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  8. "What We Do: Shoe Zone Business Description - Shoe Zone Plc". www.shoezone.com. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  9. "Our Charities | Shoe Zone". www.shoezone.com. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
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