Apr 29, 2024 • 3:00 am EDT

Skechers Opens Its First Store in Brussels

Skechers' first Skechers concept store in Brussels opens on the premier shopping street, Rue Neuve. (Photo: Business Wire)

Illuminated by a vaulted entry, the new Skechers Brussels retail store showcases Skechers' expansive lifestyle comfort range, and features dedicated Skechers Performance and Skechers Apparel areas. (Photo: Business Wire)

Apr 29, 2024 • 3:00 am EDT

The Company Will Follow its New Concept Store on Rue Neuve with its First Retail Location in Bruges in May, Expanding the Brand's Belgium Presence

WAALWIJK, Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Skechers, The Comfort Technology Company, has opened its first concept store in Brussels on its most famous shopping street, Rue Neuve. Together with its store on Antwerp's Meir and planned Bruges concept store opening in mid-May, the Company is expanding its retail presence as part of its commitment to building the brand across the country.

"For more than two decades now, Skechers has grown our presence in Benelux—reaching consumers from all walks of life with award-winning comfort technology products. Due to the breadth of our product, Skechers is available at some of the best stores in Belgium, and we are expanding our Skechers retail presence with more high-profile locations," said Maurice van Berkel, general manager of Skechers USA Benelux B.V. "Our arrival in Brussels places us at the heart of one of Europe's most cosmopolitan, trafficked and traveled destinations. Together with the tourists and locals who will soon visit our new location in Bruges and our successful Antwerp store, shoppers can enjoy the entire Skechers experience—with multiple destinations to explore our offering, coordinate our shoes and apparel, and slip into our popular Skechers Hands Free Slip-ins technologies and new Skechers Football product."

"Belgium has played a key role in Skechers' business. Wallonia is home to our European Distribution Center—the region's largest—from where we serve consumers throughout Europe, and beyond," added David Weinberg, chief operating officer of Skechers. "As a proud investor in the Belgium community and multi-year sponsor for Belgium-based Team WRT, we see more great opportunities to build our consumer-facing presence with these two new concept stores. Opening our doors in these capitals of business, tourism and culture is another natural step towards reaching our goal of $10 billion in annual revenues worldwide by 2026."

Located near INNO and City2 shopping, the new 5,270-square-foot location at Rue Neuve 64 is designed in Skechers' trademark modern décor—featuring an impressive vaulted entry and a large mural of the brand's Southern California hometown of Manhattan Beach, as well as a digital screen and illuminated displays. The store houses the brand's many footwear, apparel and accessory collections that resonate with the brand's diverse consumers; dedicated Skechers Performance and Skechers Apparel shop-in-shops; and an assortment of the Company's technologies for every activity.

From fashion collections like the brand's partnership with Brussels-based artist Vexx for the Skechers x Vexx capsule to lifestyle product and performance shoes for sport enthusiasts, Skechers' offering is enhanced with its signature comfort innovations—including its patented Skechers Hands Free Slip-ins Technology, Skechers Arch FitTechnology, Skechers Max Cushioning Technology and Skechers Air-Cooled Memory Foam Technology.

Along with the already opened Brussels Skechers store and the location opening in Bruges in mid-May, an additional Skechers store is opening in Kortrijk later this week, bringing the total Skechers retail store count to seven in Belgium. Consumers can also shop at Skechers.be and Skechers.be/fr, and leading retailers across the country.

About Skechers U.S.A. Benelux B.V. and Skechers U.S.A., Inc.

Skechers USA Benelux B.V. is a subsidiary of Skechers U.S.A., Inc. (NYSE:SKX), The Comfort Technology Company based in Southern California. Skechers designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and children. The Company's collections are available in 180 countries and territories through department and specialty stores, and direct to consumers through digital stores and approximately 5,200 Company- and third-party-owned physical retail stores. A Fortune 500 company, Skechers manages its international business through a network of wholly-owned subsidiaries, joint venture partners, and distributors. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, Skechers' future domestic and international growth, financial results and operations including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and international expansion, opening of new stores and additional expenditures, and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "project," "will," "could," "may," "might," or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include the disruption of business and operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic; delays or disruptions in our supply chain; international economic, political and market conditions including the effects of inflation and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations around the world, the challenging consumer retail markets in the United States, and the impact of wars, acts of war and other conflicts around the world; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers, especially in the highly competitive performance footwear market; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in Skechers' annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q in 2024. Taking these and other risk factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic into consideration, the dynamic nature of these circumstances means that what is stated in this press release could change at any time, and as a result, actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and we cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all such risk factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.

Amber van Weert
Skechers U.S.A. Benelux B.V.
amber.vanweert@skechers.com

Mailien Nguyen
Team Lewis
skechersbe@teamlewis.com

Source: Skechers U.S.A., Inc.

Released Apr 29, 2024 • 3:00 am EDT