By Mark Seavy 

Amid tight consumer spending, footwear suppliers are focusing on narrower assortments for next spring while moving to offset tariff-related costs. 

Suppliers hinted at $5 to $10 price increases at the Fashion Footwear Association of New York (FFANY) show last week while still working to lock down final strategies in the face of fluctuating costs. 

With those ever-changing costs in mind, suppliers are focused on offerings that are narrower but deeper.   

SG Companies unveiled a new licensing agreement with Iconix International for Salt Life men’s and children’s sandals, slides, sneakers, and casual footwear that are due in the spring with a women’s line arriving in fall 2026. At the same time, SG further extended its line with Authentic Brands Group’s Sperry brand to include girls’ and boys’ sandals and jelly shoes, the latter made from PVC plastic with a transparent design.  

SG has also sharpened its focus on lifestyle brands, reducing its previous reliance on entertainment IP. A previous agreement for Bandai-Namco Entertainment’s Pac-Man is set to expire this year, for example. 

“Companies should go narrower and deeper,” said Kristy Yvars, VP for Licensing and Marketing at SG Companies, which recently named former Macy’s executive Tim Callahan as President. “That helped us tremendously over the last three years as we narrowed down our focus and identified places where we wanted to play. The brands we are bringing in are bigger brands and fill out that lifestyle piece. It’s about being more strategic, not over-developing and making sure you are doing customer research into their wants and needs.” 

Marc Fisher Footwear, meanwhile, showed a varied assortment of licensed Tommy Hilfiger footwear from sneakers to driving moccasins. And American Exchange Group’s Aerosoles unveiled 100 styles across “Essentials” dress and block heels as well as flats that were built on its archival designs.  

Crocs introduced Mary Jane-styled clogs while Lamo Sheepskin introduced all-season sneakers, sandals, and boots and renamed itself Mykos in a bid to ditch its image as solely a cold weather brand. And GroundUp ventured further into the food brand business in a licensing deal with Hershey (Kisses, Twizzlers, Reese’s, and Jolly Ranchers) that will launch in spring 2026. 

Retailers are also examining their strategies in the face of tighter consumer spending.  

Shoe Carnival—which operates 431 stores—rebranded its largely rural locations as Shoe Station and is targeting having 80% of the chain under the new banner by March 2027. That is ahead of an original goal of 51%, CEO Mark Worden said. The retailer had the bulk of its stores (370) under the Shoe Carnival name when it embarked on the rebranding last year in Alabama and Mississippi. 

“Shoe Station’s superior performance demonstrates that our premium offering resonates with customers who remain willing to spend on quality branded footwear,” Worden said. “The early success of our re-banner initiative in diverse markets suggests there is broader appeal for the Shoe Station concept than we initially anticipated.” 

Shoe Carnival’s decision to rebrand comes amid consolidation within the footwear business. Dick’s Sporting Goods has a tentative agreement to buy Foot Locker while Skechers is set to go private which, with at an $9.4-billion value, is the largest buyout in footwear industry history. 

“We’re basically in triage mode as we try to figure out what costs will be for our brands and then what retailers can absorb and what consumers can absorb,” Matt Priest, President and CEO of Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA), told Footwear News.  

That mode is likely to carry through the balance of this year with a goal of turning the corner in 2026, licensing executives said. Shoe Carnival is forecasting that its sales this year will range from a 4% decrease to a 2% increase. 

“I do not anticipate that Shoe Carnival nor the family footwear industry will return to profitable sales growth in the near term based on the current external conditions and the soft consumer confidence we are seeing,” Worden said. “However, implicit in that guidance is a moderating sales decline in the back half of the year.”