Schuh has strong year as footfall booms

Footwear and accessories retailer Schuh has filed its accounts for the year to the end of January 2023 with turnover rising by 15.9% to £354.5 million.

That pleasing jump came as customer footfall rose 45% to more than 42 million, although this was an exceptional (and understandable) increase given that the comparison year (ending January 2022) would have been heavily affected by pandemic restrictions. That previous year was also likely to have been dented by consumer reticence about visiting physical shops. 

The surge in footfall to those physical spaces dented its e-commerce revenues by 9.2% on a comparable basis, although the company said that online sales continue to be strong and that drop is smaller than many UK fashion retail firms reported post-pandemic.

The company also said that EBITDA was up 5.9% to £20.6 million and profit before tax rose 15.6% to £13.4 million. However, net profit fell 18.2% to £10.4 million. It didn’t give a specific reason for this, although the accounts did show higher costs and taxes.

Schuh — which is based in Scotland but is owned by US giant Genesco — also said that its average number of employees rose 21% during the year to reach 3,977. 

The company has been putting in place a number of growth and customer awareness initiatives in recent years, including launching its first-ever loyalty programme, expanding its Schuh Kids store footprint, and training its store teams to be more disability-focused.