Call It Spring to Close All US Stores and Shift Business Online
Call It Spring is taking its U.S. operation digital.
The trendy footwear brand, which is a division of Montreal-based Aldo Group, plans to shutter its entire fleet of brick-and-mortar stores over the next few weeks, as it shifts toward a direct-to-consumer online strategy.
Prior to the pandemic, Call It Spring had 49 mall-based locations throughout the country. All are due to close before the end of December. As part of the wind-down process, the brand plans to hold liquidation in stores and online, offering up to 70% off its current fall/winter footwear collection. (The spring ’21 collection, set to launch in February, will be offered at full price.)
This change will not impact Call It Spring’s Canadian retail stores, which will continue to operate as normal.
Emmanuel Amzallag, SVP of Call It Spring, said talks were in the works prior to the pandemic to shift the U.S. business online, but the events of this year moved up plans.
“Because the retail industry has experienced rapid and significant change over the last several years, Call It Spring already had plans to transition towards a more robust digital presence in the U.S.; however, that timeline was accelerated due to the pandemic,” he said. “Shifting to an online experience allows us to better serve our customers by being where they are — online at Callitspring.com.”
When the pandemic forced stores to close in the U.S. earlier this year, consumers flocked to e-commerce sites to fulfill their needs, and many continue to utilize that retail channel. A recent survey by CommerceHub found that 89% of shoppers planned to spend the same or more on e-commerce this fall.
Amzallag added that a digital-first approach allows the brand to be more nimble, which is an increasingly vital quality during these uncertain times. “We are confident that this shift will help us in better curating the experience for our customers, dialing up or down what they want to see from us, and how they want to interact with our unique assortment of sustainable and vegan products,” said Amzallag.
Call It Spring made news last year when it announced that its entire line of footwear and accessories would become fully vegan, starting with the spring ’19 collection. Executives said that moving forward, the brand will continue to invest more into sustainable sourcing and business practices.
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