The Florsheim's second act offers a crash course in
resurrecting a failed brand name. The turnaround comes just as so-called heritage brands like Dr. Scholl's and Chuck Taylor have found a growing cachet among younger customers.
The
Florsheims own more than one-third of a small, publicly traded company, the Weyco Group, that also distributes such moderately priced footwear lines as Nunn Bush, Stacy Adams and Brass Boot. Weyco
faces a delicate balancing act as it tries to make Florsheim live up to its new tag line, "The Best ... Again!"
In some cases, the renewal effort has meant jettisoning longtime customers, such as Sears. Thomas Jr. says he killed a subbrand of Florsheim casual shoes sold there because it put a damper on the high-quality image Florsheim wants to project going forward.
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