Revenue soars at footwear retailer despite store closures

Listed footwear retailer Shoe Zone has seen its revenue leap by 31.2% following a mixed year which also saw it close 63 stores.

The Leicester firm told the London Stock Exchange this morning (25 October) that its group revenue had increased from £119.1m in 2021 to £156.2m in a performance its CEO described as “positive.”

The firm says it has notched up pre-tax profits of “not less than” £11m after trading strongly in the second half of the year, and said the fact it had traded for the full 52 weeks following a year of pandemic-related disruption was a sign of the company’s resilience.

Shoe Zone ended the year with a total of 360 retail stores, having closed 63, opened 13 and refitted 11.

Shoe Zone CEO Anthony Smith said: “I am pleased to announce that Shoe Zone had a positive year that included a full 52 weeks trade post pandemic. We continue our strategy to expand our Hybrid and Big Box formats via refits and relocations. Shoe Zone continues to show how resilient it is, with a proven track record of delivering robust results during times of economic uncertainty.

“We look forward to updating shareholders in more detail at the time of our final results on 10 January 2023.

“I would like to thank all of our teams for their continued commitment and hard work that have produced these great results.”