MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With recognition that Puerto Rico remains in need of many essentials a year after Hurricane Maria devastated the territory, Skechers USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX) has donated 15,000 pairs of new shoes to children on the island. The donation is part of the Company’s BOBS from Skechers philanthropic shoe program, through which the Company has donated 15 million pairs of new shoes to children affected by poverty, homelessness and natural disasters around the globe.
“Recovery from hurricanes is not a sprint, it’s a marathon – and much work still needs to be done in Puerto Rico,” said Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers. “We saw this with power taking nearly a year to be completely restored to the island, and we’re seeing it in the families still putting their lives back together today. It’s crucial that we continue to distribute supplies to families in cities as well as more remote regions to let them know that they haven’t been forgotten. And with residents just beginning to assess the damage from Hurricane Florence, our outreach continues as we expect to be in the Carolinas in the coming months to help those impacted in that region as well.”
Skechers coordinated with charity partner Delivering Good, local organization the Carlos Beltran Foundation and Skechers retail employees on the ground to deliver shoes to approximately 1,200 children through three donation events in August and September in the San Juan and Vega Baja regions to date, with another 1,900 pairs to reach children at seven donation events throughout the island by the end of September. Additional events are planned through the remainder of 2018.
The territory-wide relief effort is the latest in a series of donation events that the footwear brand has launched for hurricane victims in Puerto Rico and the States. In February 2018, Skechers donated 5,000 pairs of socks and 2,400 backpacks in care packages benefitting Puerto Rico’s city and remote residents. The Company also partnered with Delivering Good to distribute BOBS from Skechers shoes, goods and relief to flood victims in Texas and Florida following Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in 2017.
Since the program’s inception in 2011, the BOBS from Skechers program has donated new shoes to more than 15 million kids in the United States and more than 30 countries worldwide through the Head Start programs, education foundations, homeless shelters, disaster relief, and 501 (c)(3) organizations. Beyond the United States, the list of countries receiving donations in 2018 has also included Nicaragua, Haiti, Netherlands, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Lebanon and Jordan.
About Skechers USA, Inc.
SKECHERS USA, Inc., based in Manhattan Beach, California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle footwear for men, women and children, as well as performance footwear for men and women. SKECHERS footwear is available in the United States and over 170 countries and territories worldwide via department and specialty stores, 2,715 SKECHERS Company-owned and third-party-owned retail stores, and the Company’s e-commerce websites. The Company manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia and the Middle East, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Canada, Japan, throughout Europe and Latin America. For more information, please visit www.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/SKECHERS), Instagram (Instagram.com/SKECHERS) and Twitter (twitter.com/SKECHERSUSA).
About Delivering Good
Delivering Good, Inc. (formerly K.I.D.S./Fashion Delivers) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and the charity of choice for new product donations made by hundreds of companies in the fashion, home and children’s industries. Donating new merchandise provides these companies with a simple and effective way to help millions of kids, adults and families facing poverty and disaster each year. Since 1985, over $1.8 billion of donated product has been distributed through our network of community partners. Learn more at www.Delivering-Good.org.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Skechers’ future domestic and international growth, financial results and operations including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and international expansion, opening of new stores and additional expenditures, and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will result,” “could,” “may,” “might,” or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include international economic, political and market conditions including the challenging consumer retail markets in the United States; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers, especially in the highly competitive performance footwear market; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2018. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and the companies cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can the companies assess the impact of all such risk factors on their respective businesses or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.
