have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . october 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message schuh type private industry retail founded 1981 headquarters livingston west lothian scotland key people colin temple mark crutchley david spencer kenneth ball products footwear number of employees 4000 parent genesco website schuh.co.uk for other uses see schuh disambiguation . schuh pronounced u like shoe is a footwear retailer from the uk with 118 stores in the uk and ireland . schuh s customers are mostly in their late teens or early twenties and the company is predominantly a branded shoe stockist selling over 80 brands including converse vans ugg nike adidas as well as its own schuh label . the company based in livingston west lothian in scotland operates throughout the british isles republic of ireland and germany . schuh also delivers internationally . contents 1 history 2 name 3 history in brief 4 company info 5 schuh stores 6 european expansion 7 online 8 schuh kids 9 products 10 schuh magazine 11 schuh welly exchange 12 schuh design challenge 13 recent awards 14 references 15 external links history edit a branch of schuh on briggate in leeds . the very first schuh store opened on edinburgh s north bridge arcade in 1981 . schuh s founder sandy alexander noticed a lack of fashionable footwear retailer outside london and he chose edinburgh to open the very first schuh store . schuh describe their concept as follows to provide aspirational but accessible fashion footwear sold in a unique and exciting retail environment at prices which represent value for money and sold by friendly and knowledgeable staff . 1 the business was operating independently until 1986 when it was acquired by a public company . it continued as a semi autonomous trading division until it regained independence through a management buy out in 1990 and schuh ltd was formed . in june 2011 schuh was acquired by genesco inc. a nashville tennessee footwear retailer for the sum of 125 million . 2 genesco inc. sells footwear headwear sports apparel and accessories in more than 2 450 retail stores throughout the u.s principally under the fascias journeys journeys kidz shi by journeys lids and lids locker room dockers johnston & murphy and underground station . genesco inc. had a turnover of 2.6 billion in 2012 2013 . name edit schuh is german for shoe . in external marketing the company pronounces the word like the english word shoe . because of the name many people assume that schuh is a german company . schuh was to be originally named lizard until founder sandy alexander saw the word schuhe written at the top of an industry magazine they dropped the e and schuh was born . history in brief edit 1981 opened first store on edinburgh s north bridge arcade 1983 schuh opens in glasgow 1984 first english store opens in newcastle 1990 business is restructured and a new management team is established 1991 schuh hq moves to livingston 1992 schuh opens second store in edinburgh and glasgow along with aberdeen and newcastle 1994 new stores in nottingham leeds hull liverpool and manchester 1997 launch of schuh magazine distributed throughout its stores 1997 schuh opens first ireland store in dublin 1998 schuh launches the website schuhstore.co.uk 2000 schuh has 42 outlet concessions in d2 stores 2002 schuh launches transactional website in partnership with shoeshop.com 2004 opened first london store with its biggest ever store at 200 oxford street 2005 schuh outlets open in republic stores following the exit from d2 stores 2006 schuh acquired the exclusive licence to sell red or dead shoes 2008 2nd london store opens in the westfield london development 2009 the schuh welly exchange appears at 5 uk festivals and wins a uk festival award for best brand activation . 2010 opens a hometown store in livingston 2011 schuh celebrates 30 years with exclusive collaborations a commemorative book and birthday parties in every store . 2012 schuh is acquired by us corporation genesco 2012 schuh kids is launched 2013 schuh opens a record 19 stores 2014 schuh launches a new responsive website 2015 schuh opens its first stores outside of the uk and republic of ireland in the centro shopping centre in oberhausen germany . company info edit schuh hq and distribution centre is in livingston scotland with a press office and design studio in london . schuh trades profitably from their 100 high street stores and their website . schuh had a turnover of 233 million in 2012 2013 generating a profit of 25.6 million . 3 schuh has grown organically over the last 3 decades and the partnership with genesco has helped to accelerate growth as demonstrated in 2012 and 2013 with the continued expansion of schuh and the launch of schuh kids taking the number of schuh stores to over 100 in 2014 . schuh stores edit the neutrality of this section is disputed . relevant discussion may be found on the talk page . please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met . july 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message since schuh opened its first ever store in edinburgh north bridge arcade back in 1981 4 the company now has over 100 stores across the uk and ireland including the standalone kids store . european expansion edit in 2015 schuh opened its first store outside of the uk and republic of ireland in the centro shopping centre in oberhausen germany . this was quickly followed with a second german store in ruhr park . a third store is planned to open in essen in 2016 . online edit the original schuh website schuhstore.co.uk was launched in 1998 as an online version of the schuh magazine but it took another four years before schuh started trading online . back then there were doubts whether you can sell shoes on the internet . but today the site is a major contributor to the company s success with a dedicated ecommerce team overseeing the online activities . schuh was among the first retailers to open a store on ebay as a way of clearing sale stock . it is now one of the top 100 ebay stores in the world . this method of selling through sale stock ensures that stores do not get overwhelmed with sale stock and maximises stock clearance . along with schuh.co.uk schuh.ie schuh.eu and ebay schuh also sells through stores on amazon and vivaladiva as well as its sister company branch309 that sells branded shoes at a discounted price . the company has also taken a major step forward with their website by launching a fully responsive site with a strong emphasis on mobile first approach for their ever growing number of mobile users . 5 schuh kids edit 2012 saw the launch of schuh kids the first expansion of the schuh brand since the company was acquired by genesco in june 2011 . initially schuh kids was trialled in 20 stores each with a specially designed schuh kids tower . the company then took the decision to open standalone stores in glasgow lakeside and liverpool before expanding further . the original three were attached to a schuh shop intended to create a schuh superstore however the kids element runs as a different fascia with its own entrance staff who are specially trained to measure kids feet and management team . since launch the schuh kids store concept has proved extremely popular receiving industry recognition with a popai interiors award in 2013 . 6 schuh kids is now available in all stores as well as online . products edit schuh is predominantly a branded footwear stockist selling popular brands like converse adidas vans nike and ugg australia as well as less known and more niche brands and also the schuh own brand label which are designed by an in house team of shoe designers . the schuh brand aspires to represent current fashion looks and trends . besides footwear schuh also stocks shoe care products and accessories . schuh currently stock over 80 brands across the shoes accessories and shoe care range . schuh magazine edit launched in 1998 the schuh magazine was distributed through its stores with cover stars include caprice katie price and gail porter . the magazine was produced by the head office and combined features on the company and its footwear along with music and other pop culture subjects . the final schuh magazine was released in 2006 . schuh welly exchange edit in 2009 schuh launched the schuh welly exchange at scotland s rockness festival . the schuh welly exchange swaps festival goers old shoes for wellington boots . the shoes are recycled by the newlife foundation . the schuh welly exchange has appeared at bestival oxegen camp bestival global gathering creamfields summer sundae and rockness . schuh design challenge edit in partnership with west lothian council schuh launched the schuh design challenge in 1997 . it has run every year since 7 and is aimed at promoting fashion design in schools located near its head office in livingston . recent awards edit citation needed winner scottish fashion awards 2013 1 winner gold award in flagship and store category 2013 winner drapers footwear awards multiple footwear retailer of the year 2013 winner insider deals dealmaker deal of the year 2012 winner insider deals dealmaker sale of the year 2012 winner fabulous magazine fabulous for stand alone shoes 2012 winner company high fashion awards best footwear under 150 2012 winner drapers footwear & accessories awards high street retailer of the year 2012 winner retail week rising star awards customer service team of the year 2011 winner drapers footwear awards multiple footwear retailer of the year 2011 winners winner drapers footwear awards multiple footwear retailer of the year 2010 winner drapers footwear awards etailer of the year 2010 winner drapers etail awards drapers best multichannel retailer 2010 winner drapers footwear awards young fashion footwear retailer of the year 2009 winner drapers footwear awards men s footwear retailer of the year 2009 winner drapers etail awards best multichannel retailer 2009 winner uk festival awards best brand activation 2009 references edit a b winners interview retailer of the year awards 2013 . scottish fashion awards . retrieved 8 october 2014 . blackden richard 24 june 2011 . schuh sales staff to share 37.3 m windfall after us takeover . the telegraph . retrieved 8 october 2014 . jeff dominic 12 june 2013 . schuh delivers record profts of 25.6 m . the scotsman . retrieved 8 october 2014 . white claire 26 june 2013 . a step in a new direction as schuh close oldest edinburgh store . stv news . retrieved 8 october 2014 . charlton graham 15 september 2014 . schuh s adoption of responsive and the importance of a mobile first approach . econsultancy . econsultancy . retrieved 8 october 2014 . flagship & store category award . popai . retrieved 8 october 2014 . emma wins schuh design challenge . west lothian council . retrieved 8 october 2014 . external links edit schuh website uk schuh website ireland retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title schuh & oldid 736611420 categories companies established in 1981shoe companies of the united kingdomcompanies based in west lothianscottish brands1981 establishments in scotlandclothing retailers of scotlandhidden categories use dmy dates from october 2014use british english from october 2014wikipedia articles with possible conflicts of interest from october 2014npov disputes from july 2015all npov disputesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from august 2015 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated