Footwear

What do you think of my shares of Finish Line Inc.? Will the company's recent acquisition help or hinder it? - F.M., via the Internet Success doesn't always breed success. The giant footwear retailer was successful recently in outmaneuvering rival Foot Locker Inc. to strike a deal to purchase Genesco Inc. for $1.5 billion. This deal, slated to close in the fall, would make its product mix more diversified and upscale, something Foot Locker also was trying to accomplish. Finish Line operates more than 800 Finish Line, Man Alive and Paiva stores.

Athletic footwear designer Fila and Jennifer Capriati have more in common than their Italian roots: both made big names for themselves on the tennis court, fell into slumps and are fighting to come back.Each will attempt to help the other do just that through a multimillion-dollar, three-year endorsement agreement that Sparks-based Fila U.S.A. Inc. said yesterday it has reached with the 23-year-old tennis star.Capriati will compete wearing Fila tennis shoes and apparel, appear in Fila advertising, make personal appearances at retail stores and conduct children's tennis clinics at events.

BEAVERTON, Ore. -- Nike Inc., the world's top seller of athletic footwear, said yesterday that its first-quarter profit dropped 35 percent, mostly as a result of sluggish sales in Asia, where it will cut 300 positions to reduce costs.Net income fell to $163.8 million, or 56 cents a diluted share, from $253.1 million, or 85 cents, a year earlier. However, lower costs helped Nike beat the 48-cent forecast of analysts surveyed by First Call Corp.Consumer spending in Asian countries has withered as some economies fall into recession and currencies slide in value against the dollar.

NEW YORK -- The last thing Steve Madden needs is more caffeine.In his midtown New York showroom, the disheveled, ultra-now shoe designer darts from phone, to generic Starbucks drink, to client, to generic Starbucks drink, to bathroom, to generic Starbucks drink, occasionally pausing to calm himself by singing "Stand By Your Man.""The Attention Deficit Disorder part of the day is happening now," the 40-year-old Madden says in his raspy Long Island accent.It's market day, a day for him to check up on the progress of his products, and for local retailers to review the new lines, do some buying and share some gossip.

The collection ranges from strappy leather sandals with ankle ties to more casual slip-ons, but these shoes wouldn't measure up on the runways of Milan -- they're several thousand years out of date.A group of scientists has dated an assortment of prehistoric American shoes that span roughly 7,500 years. They describe the dates for seven of the shoes, saying the oldest shoe was made before 6100 B.C.Archaeologists dug the ancient footwear samples, 18 specimens all, out of Arnold Research Cave in the Missouri River bluffs of central Missouri.

Fila Holding SpA, the Italian maker of athletic shoes and athletic apparel with its U.S. headquarters in Sparks, said yesterday that it was cutting about 265 jobs nationwide to adjust a sharp downturn in sales.The restructuring of Fila USA's operation has resulted in the loss of about a dozen jobs at its Sparks headquarters and will not affect the remaining 240 employees there. About 55 warehouse jobs in Point Breeze, Holabird and the Brandon Woods Business Park in Anne Arundel County will be eliminated, leaving 190 jobs.

U.S. officials of Fila Holding SpA said yesterday that they have no explanation for a two-day plunge in Fila's stock, saying that the only analysts who have spoken about the stock reiterated "buy" recommendations.American depositary shares of Fila, the Italian sneaker company with U.S. headquarters in Hunt Valley, fell more than $5 Tuesday and fell another $5 early yesterday, before rebounding to close at $82.75, down 62.5 cents.Fila will report third-quarter earnings Nov. 7. The company has beaten Wall Street estimates every quarter for more than two years.

Laura McDaniel takes her shoes seriously . . . all 100 pairs of them.That's why when she decided to buy a new home, she made one request of the builder: She wanted enough closet space to show off her shoes.But until her home is finished this spring, her collection of footwear -- which includes leopard-print heels, beaded sneakers and fuchsia pumps -- will remain in assorted shoe racks around her current Crownsville home."I long to own a closet that can meet all my clothing demands," says Ms. McDaniel, 34, programs manager for Dollar Systems Inc. "I'd like it to look like a retail store room."

Once, sneakers merely glowed and flashed. Now they roar.Stride Rite, that staid purveyor of sensible footwear, has launched Space Walk sneakers. When activated, they not only light up, they blast off with a "Whooooooooosh!"The rocket sound comes from a gizmo -- a combination computer chip-battery- speaker -- tucked into the pouch on the right sneaker's tongue. To activate the lift-off sound, Space Walk wearers need only press the device with their ankle.Stride Rite is "the first footwear company to offer 'sight 'n' sound' technology," says Laurie Brackett, the company's public relations specialist.

This is the season of Ugly Footwear. If we remember anything about the Summer of '94 -- aside from the O. J. Simpson affair emerging as the biggest story since the dawn of man -- it'll be that every other person was clomping around in those god-awful water shoes or those clunky black sandals that make the wearer look like Spartacus on beta-blockers.The history of footwear is dotted with unfortunate examples of good taste gone awry: Earth shoes, Superfly platform heels with tiny goldfish swimming in them and combat boots for women are vivid examples that come immediately to mind.

Shares of Baltimore sports apparel company Under Armour fell more than 11 percent Tuesday over concern that sales would be soft for the rest of the year as the company deals with a weak economy and faces increased expenses from beefing up its innovation team. There were also worries about the company's earnings next year; Under Armour officials said they didn't expect the company to make a profit in 2010 from footwear, a category that has been a major driver of the company's growth in recent years.

Shoe heaven As enlightened souls - or is that soles? - surely know, it's all about shoes. So we must take note when what's billed as the world's largest footwear emporium opens at the venerable Galeries Lafayette department store on the tres chic Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The 34,500-square-foot shoe Parnassus opened in July. Reached by a gold and white staircase worthy of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, it has chocolate-brown leather sofas for the trying-on ritual, 150 brands of shoes and 12,000 pairs altogether.

Sports apparel company Under Armour is rethinking the pricing and technology of its running shoe as it looks to revamp its footwear strategy and improve sales. Executives at the Baltimore-based company revealed plans for footwear during a conference call Tuesday with analysts to discuss second-quarter earnings. The call came a week after the company announced a shake-up in leadership at its footwear division with the hiring of Gene McCarthy, the head of Timberland. The company said that the push for change was not a sign that the running shoe launch wasn't successful.

IRS, Treasury want tax on work cell phones repealed WASHINGTON -: The Obama administration asked Congress on Tuesday to repeal the tax on the personal use of company cell phones after sparking an outcry last week when it sought ideas for enforcing the law. The 1989 law says that personal use of a company cell phone should be taxed like other fringe benefits, such as a company car. The cell phone tax, however, can be a pain for workers who increasingly use...

Under Armour founder Kevin Plank is splitting his job, bringing in a veteran retail executive as president of the Baltimore athletic wear company as it transforms itself from upstart to major player. David McCreight, who was most recently president of Lands' End, will report to Plank and be responsible for the core businesses, which include footwear, apparel and accessories. Plank will remain chief executive officer and chairman. It is the latest move by the company, which was run by Plank's childhood buddies and other close associates in its early days, to beef up its management ranks by raiding major retailers for top talent as it expands into new lines, such as off-field athletic shoes.

With the launch of its heavily promoted cross trainer sneaker just two days away, Under Armour is preparing to expand its push into footwear, producing more shoes to be worn off the playing field. The Baltimore company has begun testing prototypes of a basketball and a running shoe, Kevin A. Plank, Under Armour Inc. chairman, president and chief executive, confirmed in a recent interview. At least one of the shoes could hit the market as early as next year. And while Plank wouldn't discuss too many details of its next foray into shoes - preferring not to steal the limelight from Saturday's launch of the cross trainer - it signals the company's intentions to make the Under Armour logo as prominent as the Nike swoosh in the sports apparel market.

The teasers started weeks ago: 15-second commercials starring muscular athletes and an Under Armour shoe box with a mysterious red glow. Viewers can't see what's inside the box. The Baltimore sports apparel company is keeping that a secret until Sunday's Super Bowl. That's when Under Armour will air a 60-second commercial - costs this year are reported to be $2.7 million for 30 seconds - in the first quarter of the football game to unveil its new cross-training sneaker. The commercial, to run on the most-watched sporting event of the year, is just one piece of what will be the biggest - and riskiest - product launch ever for Under Armour Inc. The company, known as much for its marketing prowess as its sportswear, is spending heavily on a yearlong campaign to introduce the athletic shoe it has dubbed a performance trainer as a wedge into the mainstream athletic footwear market.

Crocs Inc. Shares fell $27.01, or 36 percent, to $47.74. The maker of colorful casual footwear reported third-quarter sales of $256.3 million. That trailed the average estimate of $258.3 million by eight analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

What do you think of my shares of Finish Line Inc.? Will the company's recent acquisition help or hinder it? - F.M., via the Internet Success doesn't always breed success. The giant footwear retailer was successful recently in outmaneuvering rival Foot Locker Inc. to strike a deal to purchase Genesco Inc. for $1.5 billion. This deal, slated to close in the fall, would make its product mix more diversified and upscale, something Foot Locker also was trying to accomplish. Finish Line operates more than 800 Finish Line, Man Alive and Paiva stores.

IF OPPRESSIVELY HOT and muggy weather wasn't clue enough, there was a sure sign of summer this week in the news out of Washington. Call it the Sandal Scandal - a flap that arose after a White House photograph of Northwestern University's national championship women's lacrosse team revealed four of the athletes posed next to President Bush were wearing flip-flops. Relatives of the students were aghast when they saw the pictures posted on the Internet. They feared the footwear might be interpreted as a sign of disrespect to perhaps the most formal venue in the nation.