Formerly called Bensonshoe Industry Footwear Number of locations 519 (2017) CEO Nick Davis COO Charles Smith | Type Private Members 9 (2016) Founded 21 July 1917 Headquarters Leicester, United Kingdom Parent organization Shoe Zone | |
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Areas served United Kingdom, Ireland Key people Nick Davis (CEO)
Charles Smith (COO) Founders Michael Smith, Christopher Smith Profiles | ||
Shoe Zone 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 £239 million. The company's headquarters are located on Humberstone Road in Leicester next to the railway.
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History
The company was founded in 1917 under the name Bensonshoe. It was acquired by the Smith family in 1919. The Company acquired Leicester based Tylers in 1986 adding a further 61 branches to the business. 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.
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. 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. 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.