AAFA Releases ShoeStats 2012 Report
September 24, 2012
Arlington, VA - The American Apparel & Footwear Association
(AAFA) today released its ShoeStats
2012 report, a snapshot of the U.S. footwear
industry market trends for 2011. ShoeStats
2012 examines business and trade information related
to U.S. footwear consumption, production, employment,
imports, and retail prices.
"With a 7.9 percent surge in domestic footwear
manufacturing, 2011 was a very positive year for the U.S.
footwear industry," said AAFA President and CEO Kevin M.
Burke. "2011 was also marked by an increase in retail
sales and growth in employment at the manufacturing,
wholesale, and retail levels. 2011 also represents a
shift in sourcing as the industry began to diversify its
supply chain away from China to other viable sourcing
partners, including the United States."
"Accounting for more than one million U.S. workers, the
U.S. footwear industry is a powerful example of an industry
that is able to create jobs and provide meaningful savings
for American families because of international trade,"
Burke said. "With more than 98 percent of the footwear sold
in the United States being produced internationally, there
is a distinct and positive correlation between trade and
job creation in the U.S. footwear industry, even while
seeing growth in domestic manufacturing."
To continue supporting more than one million American jobs
related directly to the U.S. footwear industry and the
countless others supported by the industry, the U.S.
government must continue to reduce barriers to trade,
including the immediate congressional passage of the
Affordable Footwear Act. This common sense
legislation would eliminate the hidden and regressive
import taxes that only drive up the prices on low-cost and
children's shoes. Its passage directly benefits
hardworking American families and supports jobs here in the
United States while continue to protect the remaining
footwear manufacturers in the United States.
The Affordable Footwear Act (H.R. 2697 / S. 1069)
was introduced on July 29, 2011, in the U.S. House of
Representatives by Representative Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) and
co-sponsored by Representatives Joe Crowley (D-NY), Kevin
Brady (R-TX), and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and in the U.S.
Senate by Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and co-sponsored
by Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and Patty
Murray (D-WA) on May 25, 2011. Learn more about the
Affordable Footwear Act at www.endtheshoetax.org.
Key Facts from ShoeStats 2012:
-
U.S. footwear consumption by volume for 2011 dropped
3.8 percent to more than 2.18 billion pairs of
shoes. While consumption dropped slightly over
the significant gains made in 2010, the decrease in
consumption does not represent a return to the
recession-level consumption experienced in 2008 and
2009.
-
While U.S. footwear consumption slightly declined in
2011, the value of sales grew by 4.8 percent to $66.1
billion at retail. This growth reflects both the
increase in price driven by higher supply chain costs,
including increases in materials, labor, and
transportation, as well as consumers returning to
purchases of shoes at higher price-points coming out of
the recession.
-
98.6 percent of footwear sold in the United States is
made internationally, a 0.2 percent decline from 2010,
which represents the first-ever decline in import
penetration, or the amount of the U.S. footwear market
supplied by imports.
-
On average, every American, including every man, woman,
and child in the United States spent $212 on more than
seven pairs of shoes in 2011.
-
Americans, on average, continue to spend an ever
smaller percentage of their household income to buy
more shoes.
ShoeStats is one of the many exclusive benefits offered for
free to AAFA members. Non-members may order
ShoeStats 2012 for a nominal fee by contacting Darrell
Sumpter at (703) 797-9050. Complimentary reports
are available to credentialed members of the media by
contacting
Scott Elmore at (703) 797-9056.
###
The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) is
the national trade association representing apparel,
footwear and other sewn products companies, and their
suppliers, which compete in the global market.
AAFA's mission is to promote and enhance its
members' competitiveness, productivity and
profitability in the global market by minimizing
regulatory, commercial, political, and trade restraints.www.wewear.org.
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