Wolverine has sold Keds Corp

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I read in a press release that Keds brand has been sold. There was no indication who to.
 

Scotty

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It looks like Keds only grossed less than $100 milllion in sales in 2022. Ouch. That is not good compaired to a brand like Converse which grossed $2.3 billion in 2022. Keds pretty much lost its youth market with the exit of Taylor Swift as spokesperson and was targeting older millennials. Even on instagram, women are barely making posts weaing them. It didn't help that Keds was moving away from the iconic Champs for more modern designs.
 

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It looks like Keds only grossed less than $100 milllion in sales in 2022. Ouch. That is not good compaired to a brand like Converse which grossed $2.3 billion in 2022. Keds pretty much lost its youth market with the exit of Taylor Swift as spokesperson and was targeting older millennials. Even on instagram, women are barely making posts weaing them. It didn't help that Keds was moving away from the iconic Champs for more modern designs.
I thought 100 million was low as well.

Maybe the new owners can do something with it.
 

keds2001

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Well, Keds products have become worse and worse over the years. They have gotten more expensive, worse quality, ZERO advertising, all new shoe designs are UGLY as ****, they have become more narrow and uncomfortable and are barely better than the $10 wal-mart shoes. The executives at Keds should all be lined up and shot. For now, Keds will continue to lose ground to Cons and those big, fucking ugly Nike leather shoes or the Vans with the UGLY ass stripe on them. Keds is a MESS
 

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Well, Keds products have become worse and worse over the years. They have gotten more expensive, worse quality, ZERO advertising, all new shoe designs are UGLY as ****, they have become more narrow and uncomfortable and are barely better than the $10 wal-mart shoes. The executives at Keds should all be lined up and shot. For now, Keds will continue to lose ground to Cons and those big, fucking ugly Nike leather shoes or the Vans with the UGLY ass stripe on them. Keds is a MESS
I have to agree with most of your comment. Here in Canada a pair of Champs are 75.00. Are they fucking kidding? The quality is crap and the eyelets are unpainted.
 

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Another thing that pisses me off. Keds sold the rights of “Champion” to Haines. So we can’t even call them Champs anymore.
 

keds2001

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Another thing that pisses me off. Keds sold the rights of “Champion” to Haines. So we can’t even call them Champs anymore.
AGAIN, CLUELESS management who has to sell off value rather than create it. Stupid people running keds into the ground
 

TOM01

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A few points
1.Trying to match the sales numbers of Converse is unreachable. Shouldn't even worry about it
2. They need to get back to their bread and butter. Stop creating so many styles. There are plenty of companies are out for that
3.They need to spend money in order to make money. When was the last time anyone saw a print ad for Keds in a magazine? They have two markets from one I see and one is the 35+ crowd. I would like to see them going back to advertising in women's magazines. The older the age group, the more likely they will be reading magazines and they could be influenced by ads.
4. They may not want to spend money on someone the caliber as Swift, but they should find someone. Possibly one for the hot younger crowd (which they are missing) and one for the 35+(much more easily in reach). It seems all they do is rely on their on-line site to advertise.
5.They should really look into product placement in TV and movies. There was a series of Netflix Christmas movies where the lead actress very prominently wore Converse. I got the idea they paid for the exposure.
6. How about partnering with a retailer that hasn't carried them. A special promotion and displays at Target would be unbelievable
7.Fire anyone who doesn't have the foresight to look positively ahead and get back into the consumer's mind
 

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Further, a 100 million dollar company is still not chump change.
 

Mygfwearskeds

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Can anyone share a source where they sold? Everything I see shows Wolverine still owns them. I found where they spoke of divesting / shedding keds but can’t find where/if they sold. If it’s deadstock now I may just have to sell my Wolverine stock and buy all the keds left. 🫢
 

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Can anyone share a source where they sold? Everything I see shows Wolverine still owns them. I found where they spoke of divesting / shedding keds but can’t find where/if they sold. If it’s deadstock now I may just have to sell my Wolverine stock and buy all the keds left. 🫢
If you’re a share holder you should be first to know.
 

Killerkeds

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They better get off their buts and start marketing to women again. And I hope they stop being cheap and bring back the white eyelets.
 

tidybowler

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They should use Ariana Grande she was wearing them before Taylor Swift was used in the promotional ads.
Based on her wardrobe choices from Victorious and Sam And Cat, and personal preferences, I'd be in favor of this!
 

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keds2001

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Based on her wardrobe choices from Victorious and Sam And Cat, and personal preferences, I'd be in favor of this!
That's great but those pics are all 10+ years old. She doesn't dress like that anymore. Why spend tons of dough on a loser famous person, go around the country and grab 4-5 wicked hot college chicks and use them in a campaign. Need to show them they can be sexy and used everyday and not just shoes for 8yo and 80yo. They have a bad rap as being an "old lady" shoe. And they HAVE to be made better, insoles, glue, eyelets, and sizing have to improve. Build it and PROPERLY advertise them and they will come.
 

Killerkeds

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Ariana is still relevant. But on that, the marketing is really slow on the uptake. They need to push their sneakers on Netflix’s, HBO, Amazon prime tv, and Disney TV, to get the markets for younger people. After Taylor Swift they got lazy and decided they did not need to do any more marketing. Keds use to actually go to college campuses and advertise their band aggressively to young women, now,,,,, nothing but crickets. Even Anya Taylor-Joy would be a great spokesperson.
 

placement7777

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i know the perfect girls,shes my friend and has lots of beautiful collage friends,she adtually goes duck hunting with me
 

kafmas

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The most recent news I saw was that they were looking at either licensing the brand or selling the brand, and that they “a lot of inbound interest” for Keds which made the decision to sell easier. (Footwear News) To me, it seems like they took the $90 million settlement from Hanes over the Champion trademark and just plowed it into their profits. The CEO says they want to focus more on brands like Sweaty Betty and Saucony where it would be "far less of a lift." Meaning that they don't want to put money into advertising, endorsements, product placement, etc. It seems like they just wanted to take their $90 million quick cash from Hanes, and then realize that it would take 10 years or more to make that profit on the brand, so it can now dump it and get another wad of quick cash. The Hanes money though could have been invested in the brand and made it lots more profitable for years to come. Without making it relevant to teens again, it will do nothing but fall further behind.
 

Seeker

Administrative
Update:
Wolverine World Wide Inc., which operates a large portfolio of lifestyle and footwear brands, has sold the Keds brand to Designer Brands Inc., the parent company of footwear retailer DSW.
 

Seeker

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And more:
The DSW-parent company will acquire all Keds products, including the Pro-Keds sneaker line, and the brand’s e-commerce business as part of the deal, the terms of which were not disclosed. Prior to the deal, DSW was Keds’ largest wholesale customer.
 
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