Leather prices up, shoe prices same as 1999
09/11/2011
As the cost of leather and other raw materials have increased in recent months, Mr Burke has concluded that margins throughout the footwear supply chain must be tightening.
In 1999, the average retail price of a pair of shoes in the US was $28.06. In 2010, Mr Burke said, the average retail price was $28.40 per pair. “The price hasn't gone up in ten years,” he told the World Footwear Congress in Rio de Janeiro on November 8, “but the cost of raw materials, including leather, has gone up, so margins must be down. Putting prices up at retail is very difficult because of the economy and, with an election year coming up, I doubt we’ll see an increase in price this coming year.”
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