Florsheim Shoes is an American shoebrand. Founded in Chicago in 1892, it is now a subsidiary of Weyco Group, which is owned by members of the founding Florsheim family.
The company marked its shoes with its own name and assisted stores in promoting them. By 1930, Florsheim was making women's shoes and had five Chicago factories and 2,500 employees, with 71 stores partly or entirely company-owned and 9,000 stores around the US selling Florsheims.[2]
Milton Florsheim died in 1936 and was succeeded by his son Irving.[3] In 1946, his younger son Harold became president with Irving Florsheim becoming chairman.
1922 newspaper ad for Florsheim shoes
In 1953, International Shoe Company, the world's largest shoe maker, bought Florsheim for $21 million. Three years later, Florsheim became a division, operating as a separate entity. During its first ten years, Florsheim was International Shoe's most important unit, doubling its sales, and responsible for a quarter of the parent's sales and more than twice that fraction of earnings. Florsheim had 70% of high-quality men's shoes and succeeded when its parent company was struggling.
Florsheim eventually sold women's shoes through Thayer-McNeil stores, also owned by International Shoe (by this time called Interco).
In the 1980s Florsheim began selling athletic shoes, and Interco's shoe division became part of Florsheim.
In 1991, Interco declared bankruptcy but kept Florsheim until the company exited the shoe business in 1994. Florsheim became a separate company. In 1996 it changed its name to Florsheim Shoe Group.[3]
Until the mid-1990s, almost every mall in the US had a Florsheim store. With the rise of such shoe stores as Journeys and Finish Line, Inc., and the de-emphasis of shoe stores in American malls, most Florsheim stores closed by the early 2000s. This followed the fate of other companies such as Kinney Shoes, Thom McAn and Butler Shoes. Butler Shoes became Butler Group owned by Zale Corporation. Butler Group closed in 1990.[4]
In 2002, two members of the founding family, Thomas W. Florsheim, Jr. and John W. Florsheim of Weyco Group, based in Glendale, Wisconsin, repurchased the brand for $47 million from Florsheim Group.[1][2]
Notable people
Michael Jackson wore Florsheim Shoes for dancing. He wore the models Como and Como Imperial and had leather heels installed.[5][6]
^ ab"Florsheim Shoe Group Inc. History". Funding Universe (from International Directory of Company Histories, Volume 31, 2000). Retrieved December 2, 2023.
