Birkenstock may be best known as a sandal brand, but according to company executives, its closed-toe shoe offering is gaining traction.
On the company’s first quarter earnings call with analysts on Thursday, chief executive officer Oliver Reichert noted that Birkenstock has seen a “significant” and “continuous” shift towards closed-toe silhouettes, so much so that sales in the category has exceeded sandal revenues for the first time in Q1.
“This is clearly demonstrated by strong sell-through in premium products, such as clogs, boots and closed-toe sneakers,” the CEO told analysts. “We are particularly excited to see our higher-priced new boot silhouettes outperforming our sell-out expectations in the direct-to-consumer segment since their launch in October 2023.”
Birkenstock’s president of Americas David Kahan, who was also on Thursday’s call, provided further detail about the shift.
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“During the holiday season, which is more of a sell-through than a sell-in season, results for closed-toe footwear in general were quite significant,” Kahan said. “Fifty-three percent of direct-to-consumer sales in the quarter were non-sandals. That’s across all closed-toe categories, from sneakers to slippers to clogs.”
Kahan added that Birkenstock’s closed-toe shoes – which include the Boston and Zermatt clogs, the Tokio and London models, and the new Highwood and Prescott boot styles – all exceeded expectations in the quarter.
“Sales in clogs other than the Boston, were 75 percent higher [than a year ago],” Kahan added. “So, it’s a broadly based closed-toe business right now. And I think that’s quite significant to say that this was the first time that non-sandals were the larger percentage of our business.”
According to Williams Trading analyst Sam Poser, even though closed-toe sales increased over 30 percent year-over-year in Q1, the category will not take away the strength from Birkenstock’s sandal business, which saw sales increase mid-to-high-teens in the period.
“The strength of closed-toe footwear does not and will not detract from the strength of the sandal business, which was up double digits in the first quarter of ’24,” Poser said in a note to investors on Thursday. “Further, we believe that the wholesale order backlog for core sandals and updates to those sandals is very strong, and direct-to-consumer sandal sales are running strong and will accelerate from here. The increased importance of clogs, sneakers, and boots, the evolution of sandals, the consistency of Birkenstock’s fit, compelling product innovation, and the scarcity model has just begun to increase the importance and desirability of Birkenstock throughout the year.”
This comes as the 250-year-old German footwear brand reported record revenue in the first quarter of 2024. In the period, net revenues rose 22 percent to 302.9 million euros ($328.5 million at current exchange) in the first quarter, up from 248.5 million euros ($269.4 million) the same time last year.
Looking ahead, Birkenstock expects 2024 revenues of between 1.74 billion euros to 1.76 billion euros, which would represent growth between 17 percent and 18 percent compared to 2023.
