Schuh (pronounced //, like "shoe") is a Scottish

footwear Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serves the purpose of protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from ground textures and temperature. Footwear in the manner of shoes therefore primarily serves th ...

retailer based in

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

, Scotland. It has 132 stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company is predominantly a branded shoe stockist, selling over 80 brands, including:

Converse Converse may refer to: Mathematics and logic * Converse (logic), the result of reversing the two parts of a definite or implicational statement ** Converse implication, the converse of a material implication ** Converse nonimplication, a logical c ...

Vans Vans is an American manufacturer of skateboarding shoes and related apparel, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and motocross teams. From 1996 to 2019, the comp ...

, UGG,

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

as well as its own Schuh label.

History

The very first Schuh store opened on Edinburgh’s North Bridge Arcade in 1981. Schuh’s founder Sandy Alexander noticed a lack of fashionable footwear retailer outside

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and he chose Edinburgh to open the very first Schuh store. The business was operating independently until 1986, when it was acquired by

Goldbergs A. Goldberg and Sons plc, which traded as Goldbergs, was a Scottish retail company which, prior to its demise in 1990, had grown from a single Glasgow store in 1908 to a chain of over 100 outlets. At the Edinburgh store there was a cafe on t ...

. It continued as a semi-autonomous trading division until it regained independence through a management buy-out in 1990 and Schuh Ltd. was formed. In June 2011, Schuh was acquired by

Genesco Genesco Inc. is an American publicly owned specialty retailer of branded footwear and accessories and is a wholesaler of branded and licensed footwear based in Nashville, Tennessee. Through its various subsidiaries, Genesco operates more than 1,4 ...

footwear retailer, for the sum of £125 million. Schuh is

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

for

shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...

. In external marketing, the company pronounces the word like the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

word "shoe". Because of the name, many people assume that schuh is a German company. Schuh was to be originally named Lizard, until founder Sandy Alexander's colleague Mike Doherty saw the word ‘schuhe’ written at the top of an industry magazine - they dropped the 'e' and "schuh" was born.

Timeline

* 1981: opened first store on Edinburgh’s North Bridge Arcade * 1983: schuh opens in Glasgow * 1984: First English store opens in Newcastle * 1990: Business is restructured and a new management team is established * 1991: schuh HQ moves to Livingston * 1992: schuh opens second store in Edinburgh and Glasgow along with Aberdeen and Newcastle * 1994: New stores in Nottingham, Leeds, Hull, Liverpool and Manchester * 1997: schuh opens first Ireland store in Dublin * 2004: opened first London store at 200 Oxford Street * 2008: 2nd London store opens in the Westfield London development * 2009: The schuh welly exchange appears at 5 UK festivals and wins a UK Festival award for Best Brand Activation. * 2010: Opens a ‘hometown’ store in Livingston * 2012: schuh is acquired by US corporation

* 2012: schuh kids is launched * 2015: schuh opens its first stores outside of the UK and Republic of Ireland in the Centro shopping centre in Oberhausen, Germany.

Company Info

schuh HQ and distribution centre is in Livingston, Scotland with a Press Office and design studio in London. schuh trades profitably from their 100+ high street stores and their website. schuh had a turnover of £233 million in 2012/2013 generating a profit of £25.6 million. The company has a fully responsive site with a strong emphasis on "mobile first approach".

schuh Kids

2012 saw the launch of : the first expansion of the schuh brand since the company was acquired by Genesco in June 2011. Since launch, the store concept has proved extremely popular, receiving industry recognition with a POPAI interiors award in 2013. schuh kids is now available in all stores as well as online.

Products

schuh is predominantly a branded footwear stockist selling popular brands like

and

UGG Australia UGG is an American fashion company primarily known for its sheepskin boots, founded in 1978 by Australian surfer Brian Smith in Santa Monica, California. After putting on his pair of Australian sheepskin boots after a chilly late-night surf in ...

as well as less known and more niche brands, and also the schuh own brand label which are designed by an in-house team of shoe designers. The schuh brand aspires to represent current fashion looks and trends. Besides footwear schuh also stocks shoe care products and accessories.

schuh Magazine

Launched in 1998, the schuh magazine was distributed through its stores with cover stars include Caprice,

Katie Price Katrina Amy Alexandra Alexis Price (''née'' Infield; born 22 May 1978) is an English media personality and model. She gained recognition in the late 1990s for her Glamour photography, glamour modelling work and had regular appearances on Pag ...

and

Gail Porter Gail Porter (born 23 March 1971) is a Scottish television personality, former model and actress. She started her television career in children's TV, before branching out into modelling and presenting mainstream TV. In the 1990s, she famously po ...

. The magazine was produced by the head office and combined features on the company and its footwear along with music and other pop culture subjects. The final schuh magazine was released in 2006.

schuh Welly Exchange

In 2009 schuh launched the schuh Welly Exchange at Scotland’s RockNess Festival. The schuh Welly Exchange swaps festival goers old shoes for wellington boots. The shoes are recycled by the Newlife Foundation. The schuh Welly Exchange has appeared at

Bestival Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festival relocated to the Lulworth Estate in Dorset. The event was organ ...

Oxegen Oxegen was a music festival in Ireland, first held from 2004–2011 as a rock and pop festival and again in 2013 with dance and chart acts only. The event was regularly cited as Ireland's biggest music festival, and, by 2009, it was being ci ...

, Camp Bestival,

Global Gathering Global Gathering was an annual dance music festival by Angel Festivals Limited. Festivals are held in countries such as the UK, Poland, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and feature leading electronic music artists from around the globe. The festival ran ...

Creamfields Creamfields is an electronic dance music festival series founded and organised by British club promoter Cream, with its UK edition taking place on August Bank Holiday weekend, with a number of international editions held across various territ ...

Summer Sundae Summer Sundae (also called the Summer Sundae Weekender) was an annual music festival held in Leicester, England which initially focused on indie (music), indie, Indie folk, alternative, and local music. The festival began as a one-dayer in 2001 ...

and RockNess.

schuh Design Challenge

In partnership with

West Lothian Council West Lothian Council is the local authority for the council area of West Lothian in Scotland. History West Lothian District Council was created in 1975 as one of four districts within the Lothian region. The West Lothian district took its name ...

, schuh launched the schuh Design Challenge in 1997. It has run every year since and is aimed at promoting fashion design in schools located near its head office in Livingston.

Recent awards

* Winner:

Scottish Fashion Awards The Scottish Fashion Awards was an annual awards ceremony honouring Scottish designers, photographers, models and fashion industry leaders. Founded in 2006, the event organiser was Tessa Hartmann, owner of a Scottish-based PR firm to promote her ...

2013 * Winner: Gold Award in Flagship and Store category 2013 * Winner: Drapers Footwear Awards: Multiple Footwear Retailer of the Year 2013 * Winner: Insider Deals: Dealmaker Deal of the year 2012 * Winner: Insider deals: Dealmaker Sale of the year 2012 * Winner: Fabulous Magazine: Fabulous for stand-alone shoes 2012 * Winner: Company high fashion awards: Best footwear under £150 2012 * Winner: Drapers footwear & accessories awards: High street retailer of the year 2012 * Winner: Retail Week Rising Star Awards: Customer Service Team of the Year 2011 * Winner: Drapers Footwear Awards: Multiple Footwear Retailer of the Year 2011 winners * Winner: Drapers Footwear Awards: Multiple Footwear Retailer of the Year 2010 * Winner: Drapers Footwear Awards: Etailer of the Year 2010 * Winner: Drapers Etail Awards: Drapers Best Multichannel Retailer 2010 * Winner: Drapers Footwear Awards: Young Fashion Footwear Retailer of the Year 2009 * Winner: Drapers Footwear Awards: Men’s Footwear Retailer of the Year 2009 * Winner: Drapers Etail Awards: Best Multichannel Retailer 2009 * Winner: UK Festival Awards: Best Brand activation 2009 * Winners' Sponsor:

Lux Style Awards The Lux Style Awards is an award ceremony held annually in Pakistan since 2002. The awards celebrate "style" in the Pakistani entertainment industry, and it is the oldest event dedicated to cinema, television, fashion, music and film industry ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

References

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External links

Schuh website - UK

Schuh website - Ireland
Retail companies established in 1981 Shoe companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in West Lothian Scottish brands 1981 establishments in Scotland Clothing retailers of Scotland 2012 mergers and acquisitions Footwear retailers British subsidiaries of foreign companies Livingston, West Lothian