Skechers celebrates record sales

California-based Skechers revealed record third quarter sales of $2.35bn (£1.81bn), up 15.9% year on year for the three months to 30 September 2024.

Net earnings were $193m (£149m), up from $145m (£112m) year on year. Sales in the nine months to 30 September were $6.76bn (£5.2m), up 11.9% year on year. Net earnings were $540m (£416m), up 17.8% year on year.

The company said that it achieved 21% wholesale growth, 10% direct-to-consumer growth, as well as 16% growth internationally and 15% domestically in the US.

David Weinberg, CEO of Skechers said sales grew 30% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region driven by double-digit growth across all countries; 14% in the Americas, reflecting particularly strong sales in the United States and Canada; and 7% in Asia Pacific.

“With the growing awareness and broad acceptance of our comfort technology products by our partners and consumers, we believe each of these regions represent continued growth opportunities for Skechers. We continue to invest in our operational capabilities and improve the customer experience, while meeting the increased global demand for our products and positioning Skechers for profitable growth now and in the future,” Weinberg said.

UK managing director Richard Parker said that Skechers continues to invest in infrastructure across the business, including expanding its central European warehousing in Belgium to 2.2m sq ft, and “scaling up everything.”

“We are seeing record growth and our ambition is to become number on in the world on footwear by revenue, ahead of Nike, and we are just going to keep on going until we get there,” Parker said.

Skechers continues to set up sporting collaborations with leading sportspeople to build awareness of Skechers as a technical athletic brand.

The roster of athletes competing in Skechers footwear now includes football and basketball stars; golfers, major league baseball players and Indian cricketers.

England footballer Harry Kane was signed on as Skechers ambassador in 2023, was in the headlines for his golden Skechers boots in August. Skechers has also collaborated with musician Snoop Dogg, with a custom capsule collection launched ahead of the 2024 Olympics.

Parker was speaking at an event at Skechers’ flagship store in Oxford Street in London, where the business handed over a cheque for £325,800 to the Woodgreen Pets Charity, which Skechers UK has a fundraising partnership with. It donates 25p a pair for every sale of its Bobs for Dogs range shoes to the charity, which also features on Channel 4's The Dog House.

There are now 124 Skechers retail stores in UK and Republic of Ireland, of which 69 are in the UK including three new stores opened in 2024.