The United Kingdom heritage shoemaker Russell & Bromley has been purchased by means of high-street clothes large Subsequent. In spite of the emblem’s rescue from management, dozens of jobs might be misplaced in preliminary redundancies, and there are rumours that greater than 30 retail outlets may just shut. As probably the most few independently owned shoes manufacturers left in the United Kingdom, the sale spells some other loss to the economic heritage of the British shoes business.
The closure of style retail outlets is not anything new, and the sluggish death of the British excessive avenue has been properly documented. In truth, analysis in 2021 printed that the fastest-declining sector on the United Kingdom excessive avenue was once model retail. Shifts in shopper behaviour pushed by means of on-line buying groceries, along speedy model, positioned inevitable drive on impartial, mid- to high-end retail outlets like Russell & Bromley.
With such a lot festival (in particular within the context of shoes, the place many clothes shops and supermarkets have added shoe traces), staying related has change into much more difficult.
What set Russell & Bromley aside was once its lengthy historical past. It was once based in 1880 in Sussex and persevered beneath the management of 5 generations of the similar circle of relatives. It has a strongly outlined heritage as a British impartial emblem, with a focal point on craftsmanship and understated luxurious.
It has additionally been a favorite of the Princess of Wales, which assured the emblem additional endorsement. Extra not too long ago, some other emblem related to the princess, LK Bennett, was once bought to the landlord of Poundland. LK Bennett was once based in 1990, additionally as a high-end shoe store, later branching out into clothes as properly.
The Russell & Bromley sale adopted the announcement that heritage sports activities shoe emblem Gola have been bought by means of Jap conglomerate Marubeni – a reaction to booming gross sales in unfashionable running shoes. Gola, too, has a protracted historical past. It was once based in Leicester, as soon as a centre for British shoemaking in 1905, making it one in all Britain’s oldest sports clothing manufacturers.
Its origins had been in making soccer boots, however within the Sixties the emblem took off with its Harrier taste being favoured by means of soccer lovers, and its later endorsement by means of celebrities together with Liam Gallagher and Paul Weller. However lately, Gola struggled to compete with the powerhouses of Nike and Adidas.
The circumstances of Russell & Bromley and Gola exemplify the demanding situations of keeping up independence within the advanced international shoes business the place conglomerates are taking a dominant stance. The manufacturers’ exchange in possession highlights the transformation of what was once as soon as a flourishing shoes production and retail business.
Dominance and decline
The Sixties was once the heyday of style retail at the British excessive avenue with the emergence of boutiques like Mary Quant’s Bazaar and the appearance of Topshop in 1964, which introduced a brand new, more youthful shopper.
Shoes shops had been all the time a staple at the excessive avenue, with manufacturers like Dolcis, and Lilley and Skinner. Each had been a part of the Leicester-based conglomerate the British Shoe Company, and along Clarks and Russell & Bromley they captured the shoes retail marketplace.
However the United Kingdom’s model shoes retail business began to say no within the Nineties with the closure of the British Shoe Company and its large portfolio of retail outlets.
This decline in shoe retail adopted an important exchange in the United Kingdom’s shoes production business. Whilst Northampton stays a centre of excellence for males’s shoes production, shoe factories in Leicester began to near from the Eighties. They might now not compete with the costs and volumes of producers in Brazil, India and China.
Not too long ago, China has taken the lead in international shoe production, adapting the standard abilities and craftsmanship with technical advances and the facility to supply excessive volumes.
So the place does Subsequent are compatible into this image? In 1982, the Midlands-based clothes corporate opened its first womenswear retailer and by means of 1988 had introduced the Subsequent Listing, which presented house supply. Shoppers now not needed to pass to split retail outlets to seek out sneakers to compare their outfits – it was once all to be had in a single position.
It was once now not simply Leicester that suffered the decline of its shoes business. London additionally had a protracted historical past in shoemaking, however did not climate the aggressive panorama. The Nineties noticed an building up in world manufacturers and shops coming into the United Kingdom retail area, putting additional festival on home manufacturers.
There’s nonetheless a marketplace for artisanal shoes.
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In spite of this uncertainty and alter in UK shoes and retail, Russell & Bromley persevered to thrive properly into the twenty first century. That is testomony to its place as a high-end store that bought its personal well-crafted sneakers and luggage with the fascinating Made in Italy label. Investments in a refresh in 2025 will have proved too pricey, because the marketplace was increasingly more tricky.
Whilst there may be quite a few selection for shoppers on the decrease and clothier ends of the shoes marketplace, the mid to high-price issues the place Russell & Bromley sits may just in all probability be in danger of changing into squeezed out.
Italy, Spain and Portugal have maintained their wealthy shoemaking heritage. Whilst this has a lot to do with legacy, it can be the results of those nations’ persevered endorsement by means of luxurious manufacturers, the place the attract of artisanal sneakers resonates with upper payment issues.
In spite of the gross sales, the Russell & Bromley and Gola manufacturers don’t seem to be being misplaced. Beneath their new homeowners, they’ll be capable to pass on representing the legacy of the British shoes business, which has been outlined by means of heritage, model and craftsmanship.
