DSW Changes Name to Designer Brands, Plans to Increase Exclusive Product Line
DSW Inc. announced at an investor event yesterday that it's changing its name to Designer Brands and will increase its own exclusive product lines, reports MarketWatch. Designer Brands will operate DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse, The Shoe Company and Shoe Warehouse brands, and will produce items under the Camuto Group, which it purchased in November. The announcement comes after DSW Inc. announced a loss in the latest period and projected a 2019 fiscal year profit below analysts’ expectations. Designer Brands expects the Camuto product line to reach $725 million in sales by 2021.
Total Retail's Take: DSW, now Designer Brands, is pivoting away from only selling other brands’ products in an attempt to bolster sales of its own brands, increasing profits in the process. Buying the Camuto Group at the end of 2018 signaled a change in DSW's approach to merchandise assortment. During yesterday's investor event, Designer Brands Chief Executive Roger Rawlins recognized the losses the company has incurred by only selling products from outside vendors. "We've got to take back a portion of the margins that we think we're owed," Rawlins told The Wall Street Journal. Designer Brands hopes to bolster sales by offering exclusive private-label products that consumers can't get elsewhere.
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Kristina Stidham is the digital content director at Total Retail and sister brands Women in Retail Leadership Circle and Women Leading Travel & Hospitality at NAPCO Media. She is passionate about digital media and handles video, podcast and virtual event production for all brands. You can often find her at WIRLC, TR, WLT&H or industry events with her camera and podcasting equipment—or at home on Zoom—recording interviews with thought leaders and business executives.
Kristina holds a B.A. in Media Studies and Production from the Temple University Klein College of Media and Communication in Philadelphia. Go Owls! When she's not in the office, she loves to go on long walks, sing around the house, hangout with her family and two pet guinea pigs, and travel to new places.
