Merrell Footwear Expands Year- Round Momentum At Outdoor Retail Summer Market in Salt Lake City
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ROCKFORD, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 7, 1999--Merrell Footwear, a wholly owned division of global footwear marketer Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE:WWW), today announced exceptionally strong market response to its new line at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, held in Salt Lake City. Merrell, a recognized leader in the outdoor footwear category for over 20 years, is known for its technical hiking footwear, approach shoes and technical land and water sandals.
"Since acquiring Merrell in October 1997, the brand has been a
shining star in the Wolverine stable of brands," said Geof Bloom,
Wolverine World Wide Inc.'s Chairman and CEO. "We originally purchased
the company in response to consumer demand for a premium technical
brand addressing the outdoor market. To our delight, we ended up with
a dynamic, youthful and exciting brand that is redefining product
categories and inventing new ones. Merrell's growth to date has been
nothing short of exceptional, having more than doubled since the
acquisition, and is on track to double again in 2000."
Since the establishment of the After-Sport category with the
introduction of its Jungle Mocs and Jungle Slides in Spring 1999,
Merrell has seen unusually high sales in the casual segment of the
outdoor market.
"A number of elements excite us about our recent success," noted
Jacques Lavertue, vice president and general manager for Merrell. "The
first is that our growth is being fueled by retail sell-through, the
key measure of a brand's success. The second is that Merrell is
selling through in all major global markets especially in Japan, Hong
Kong and Canada. It is also doing extremely well in the trend-setting
U.K. market.
"Finally, we have been able to preserve the integrity of
Merrell's prime distribution, which has not at all been compromised by
the rapid growth. While we have increased our distribution slightly,
it has all been in the premium channel. A good deal of the growth is
simply coming from more substantial programs with our key retail
partners."
Tim O'Donovan, Wolverine President and COO, commented, "Merrell
has created a whole new category of footwear in the outdoor casual
sector. The introduction of the `Jungle Moc' took the market by storm
and has fueled the creation of this new innovative collection known as
`Urbal.' These shoes are a different generation of casual shoe
destined to the younger buyer looking for performance in a casual
shoe. Reactions to the collection at the last three major trade shows,
ISPO in Munich, WSA in Las Vegas and Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake
City have been outstanding."
The Urbal collection, which is a combination of urban and global
styling and functionality, was born out of the tremendous success and
momentum of Merrell's Jungle Moc and Jungle Slide. The Urbal
collection has become so popular that Wolverine World Wide has had to
take legal measures to protect its intellectual design rights.
Merrell Outdoor Footwear is a division of Wolverine's Performance
Footwear Group. Wolverine World Wide, Inc., headquartered in Rockford,
Michigan, manufactures and markets a wide variety of branded footwear
and performance leather. Other major branded products of the Company
include: Bates(R) Uniform Footwear; Caterpillar(R) Footwear;
Coleman(R) Footgear; Harley-Davidson(R) Footwear; Hush Puppies(R)
shoes, slippers, and accessories; Hush Puppies(R) Homeware(TM)
slippers; Hy-Test(R) occupational and safety footwear; Sioux-Mox(R)
Moccasins; Tru-Stitch(R) slippers; Wolverine(R) work, sport and rugged
outdoor footwear, apparel and accessories; and Wolverine(R) All Season
Weather Leathers(TM). The Company's premier comfort technologies
include: Caterpillar(R) C3; Hush Puppies(R) HPO2, Air Paradise HPO2,
Bounce(R) and Comfort Curve(R), Wolverine DuraShocks(R) SR comfort
technology, Wolverine Fusion(TM) and Zero-G(TM).
--30--djl/clv*
CONTACT: Chris Goddard, 617/973-5035
KEYWORD: MICHIGAN UTAH
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: APPAREL/TEXTILES RETAIL
PHOTO: snr5