Footwear Plus magazine announced the winners of its 16th annual Plus Awards, co-sponsored by the Fashion Footwear Association of New York (FFANY) and OrthoLite comfort insoles, in recognition of design and retail excellence for 2014 at an evening celebration in New York, NY, Feb. 3, 2014.
Winners reflect the breadth of the industry, including design categories like “Running,” “Comfort” and “Cowboy Boots” to online behemoths, specialty family shoe stores and trendy boutiques. The 2014 Plus Awards featured the first-ever “Outdoor Style” and “Best Kicks Collab” categories. The winners were Sorel and Concepts x Converse “Aran Sweater,” respectively.
The coveted “Company of the Year” Plus Award went to Skechers, which experienced record sales and growth the past year. Estimated 2014 sales were $2.35 billion—a 27 percent jump over the previous year. Other winners included a Who’s Who of industry leaders: Vans (“Brand of the Year” and “Surf”), The North Face (“Outdoor”), Rocky (“Work Boots”), Sam Edelman (“Women’s Collection”), Justin Boots (“Cowboy Boots”), Asics (“Running”) and Ugg Australia (“Boots”), to cite a few.
Additional companies honored at the official Plus Awards presentation included Jambu (“Children’s”), Rockport (“Men’s Comfort”), Birkenstock (“Women’s Comfort”), Nordstrom (“National Chain”), Aetrex (“Best Wholesale Customer Service”), Zappos (“Online”), Reyers Shoes (“Sits & Fits”) Keds x Taylor Swift (“Best Collab”), Vince Camuto (“Little Black Dress”), Wolverine 1000 Mile (“Men’s Collection”), New Balance (“Athletic Lifestyle”), Moxie (“Boutique”) Harry’s Shoes (“Customer Service”) and Clarks (“Innovations in Comfort” presented by OrthoLite).
The Plus Award recognizing “Lifetime Achievement” went to Peter Hanig, owner of Hanig’s Shoes, in acknowledgement of his 45-year career in shoe retailing. Hanig’s Footwear chain is synonymous with offering the finest selection of European comfort brands and provides top-notch service to its legions of loyal customers. Peter Hanig also spearheaded “Cows on Parade” in 1998, a public art exhibit that placed 330 life-sized cow sculptures throughout the city. The exhibit brought in more than $250 million tourist dollars to Chicago and the event’s auction raised more than $3.5 million for various charity organizations.
“Congratulations to all 2014 Plus Award winners,” said Greg Dutter, Editorial Director of Footwear Plus. “The innovation, hard work and passion represented in these companies is proof positive the footwear industry raises the bar on design and service year after year.”
For 25 years, Footwear Plus has been the leading business-to-business fashion magazine covering the footwear industry.
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