U.S. footwear market in comparison with the Russian market

In the future, the next five years, shoe trade in the U.S. will decline by 2.5% per year - such predictions are given after several researches and observations of the Shoes Stores in the US by agency IBISWorld. Now the shoe manufacturing sector is represented by 10 360 U.S. companies that provide jobs for 153,000 people. American corporation Analpa.inc is one of the few growing companies in the contracting market. In an interview for FashionUnited.Ru sales manager in the United States Michele Pallidine-Hancock explained aspects, allowing them to develop the company, and compared the working conditions of shoe companies in Russia and the United States.

Michelle, what, in your opinion, are the main differences in the behavior of shoes buyers in the U.S. and Russia?

It fully depends on the very type of shoes and target audience. Since we work in the youth segment, there is almost no difference. In Russia as well as in the U.S., young people see fashion shoes on their heroes, in fashion magazines and try to buy the same things immediately. The U.S. market is divided between "brands" that cost 50-100 dollars a pair, and "no name" stores, which can be sold at a price of 10-30 dollars. A similar situation also exists in Russia. But there you have another "layer" - $ 30-50 - "fake-brands."

Which countries are leading manufacturers in the United States in terms of delivery wholesale shoes? What is a price segment?

Most of the shoes cost about 20-30 dollars in average. Largest suppliers in the U.S. are the following countries: China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Mexico.

Raw materials from which countries are now the most required from international manufacturers of shoes? By what criteria do you select raw materials in your company?

Raw materials are divided into natural and synthetic. The most popular is of course natural leather - from India, South Korea, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Thailand and Argentina. Synthetics are mostly from China, Taiwan, Spain and Italy. Our company has a separate office, which works to supply raw materials for our production. It is located in the city Vaalvik near Amsterdam.

The author of the article is NewBusinessProposals.com