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Shoe Zone

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Shoe Zone plc
FormerlyBensonshoe
Company typePublic limited company
LSESHOE
IndustryFootwear
Founded21 July 1917; 107 years ago (1917-07-21) in Leicester, England
Founders
  • Michael Smith
  • Christopher Smith
HeadquartersLeicester, England, UK
Number of locations
519 (2017)
Areas served
  • United Kingdom
  • Ireland
Key people
Charles Smith
(Interim Executive Chairman)
Anthony Smith
(CEO)
Members9[1] (2016)
Number of employees
4,100 (2017)
Websitewww.shoezone.com

Shoe Zone (stylised as shoezone) is a footwear retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland which sells shoes at low prices. It has over 500 stores in different cities and towns throughout the UK and Ireland and over 4,000 employees. The company has an annual turnover of £241 million.[citation needed] The company's headquarters are located in Leicester, England.[2][3]

History

A branch of Stead & Simpson in Bradford, that has been closed for the Westfield Bradford development.

The company was founded in England in 1980 when brothers Michael and Christopher Smith brought controlling shares in a footwear company, Bensonshoe, that had been founded by their grandfather.[4] The company acquired Leicester based Tylers in 1986 adding a further 61 branches to the business.[4] By 2000, the company had 184 branches and late that year acquired The Oliver Group plc which added a further 258 stores to its portfolio.[4]

On 8 September 2007, Shoe Zone bought the shoe retailer, Shoefayre, for an undisclosed sum from its parent, The Co-operative Group, adding 300 stores to Shoe Zone's portfolio.[4] On 28 November 2009, it bought Leicester-based Stead & Simpson and converted many stores to the Shoe Zone brand.

Operations

The company sells approximately 20 million pairs of footwear per year.[5] Shoe Zone also has a small charity branch known as the Shoe Zone Trust which donates a proportion of the company's profits to cancer research and charitable organisations, they also helped Children In Need raise nearly £200,000.

References

  1. ^ "Shoe Zone Senior Management: Our People". www.shoezone.com. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  2. ^ Mills, Lauren (2017-09-26). "Shoe Zone makes great strides in its 100th year". leicestermercury. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  3. ^ https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08961190
  4. ^ a b c d "Our Story". Shoezone. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  5. ^ "What We Do: Shoe Zone Business Description - Shoe Zone Plc". www.shoezone.com. Retrieved 1 January 2020.