Brown Sells Shoes.com
Margaret Sutherlin
Associate Editor
Shoes.com has a new owner.
Brown Shoe Co. announced Monday it had sold the site to Canadian e-tailer ShoeMe. The terms of the agreement were not announced. (Brown acquired Shoes.com in 2000.)
“While Shoes.com has been a beneficial part of our company, we believe now is the right time to focus our attention on Famous.com and our branded wholesale e-commerce sites as we continue to expand and invest in more strategic omnichannel, online and mobile efforts,” said Diane Sullivan, CEO, president and chairman of Brown in a release. “With over 1,000 brick-and-mortar locations, an established online presence and over 1 million mobile app downloads, we believe Famous Footwear will be the leading omnichannel destination for the footwear industry.”
The sale reflects Sullivan’s strategy to focus on the company’s strongest performing divisions. In addition to Famous Footwear, it has been investing heavily in its wholesale business in the past few years, growing brands like Sam Edelman.
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ShoeMe was founded in 2012 by Sean Clark, who entered the footwear business after working for eyewear firm Coastal Contacts Inc. ShoeMe was purchased in July by Roger Hardy (the former CEO and chairman of Costal Contacts), and he also acquired Seattle-based Onlineshoes.com as well.
In a statement, ShoeMe executives said they planned to use the acquisition to expand its U.S. presence.
