Schuh set to launch kids stores

Branded footwear retailer Schuh is launching Schuh Kids, the company’s first store dedicated to children’s footwear. The Schuh Kids retail concept marks the first expansion of the brand since it was acquired by Genesco in June last year, and it will

initially launch in three locations in Braehead in Scotland, Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex, and Liverpool One.

All three stores will be attached to an existing Schuh shops, creating a ‘Schuh superstore’, but each Schuh Kids will be run as a separate business, with their own entrance, management team and staff, which will be specially trained to cater for younger customers.

Each store will house a carefully curated selection of mini ranges of the most popular adult styles from brands such as Toms, Vans and Converse, and will cater for babies, toddlers and youth, with retail prices ranging from 20 to 130 Pounds.

David Spencer, Schuh buying and marketing director, said: “We are very excited to be taking the Schuh concept to the kids market. We really wanted to bring the true sense of the adult’s chain to this new business and were very focused on not only opening a kid’s footwear format but opening a Schuh kid’s footwear format.

“In store we hope to create a unique environment which is aspirational for the customers yet very accessible and offering the standard of service that you would expect from Schuh, we’ll also have the full offer available on-line.”

Schuh has worked with retail design agency Briggs Hillier on the design of the Schuh Kids concept, which has been designed to emulate the traditional Schuh format, while still being appealing to younger customers. To make children feel comfortable while shopping, all the furniture will be made in tactile materials as well as being the correct size and proportion for the mini shoppers, and visually the store will feature bespoke hand drawn ‘chalk-board’ and ‘jotter doodle’ graphics to set the tone.

The debut Schuh Kids will open in Braehead on October 7, followed by Lakeside and Liverpool One.