According to IBISWorld Industry Analyst Nikoleta Panteva, “The number of companies in the industry has also declined.” Many new operators lack supply chain contracts with importers and are unable to send production offshore, which has caused them to lose out on margins. “This decline has pushed some players out of the industry because they were unable to sustain profitable operations,” says Panteva. Meanwhile, well-recognized names, such as Nike, have tightened their stronghold on the shoe supply chain. While Nike accounts for a negligible portion of industry revenue, its brand recognition and effective cost controls have allowed it to remain at the forefront of the shoe sector.
With manufacturers shifting operations overseas and cheap imports penetrating the US market, revenue for the Shoe and Footwear Manufacturing industry is expected to fall over the five years to 2013. Many companies have moved away from manufacturing footwear in the United States and are focusing on designing, wholesaling and marketing branded shoes.
The credit and financial crises of the past few years have led to extremely low levels of consumer spending, negatively affecting sales of discretionary items like shoes. However, this struggling industry is not likely to experience more double-digit drops; most large footwear manufacturers have already moved operations overseas and the rate of growth in international outsourcing is expected to stabilize. In fact, industry revenue is expected to inch upward, boosted by growth in downstream demand from wholesalers and retailers.
The Shoe and Footwear Manufacturing industry in the United States has a low level of concentration. This low concentration reflects a largely fragmented market that has a mix of small players. The sole major player in the industry is New Balance, while others operating in this industry include Reebok International Ltd., Adidas AG and Nike Inc. (see IBISWorld report 31621 for major player market shares). Most large footwear companies, such as Nike and Adidas, manufacture nearly all of their products outside of the country. This practice has increased over the past few years as large manufacturers discontinue production in the United States, instead focusing domestic activities on design and wholesale of footwear. Projected industry declines will be less drastic than the substantial drops that occurred at the start of this decade, as the industry will stabilize at a lower base. IBISWorld forecasts that revenue will decline over the five years to 2018, as imports continue to infiltrate the industry, growing annually and satisfying close to all domestic demand.