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he quest for a place in the international marketplace is one that many large companies will be familiar with; global expansion is becoming ever more prevalent and fashion trends are converging more and more. It comes as no surprise, then, that US-based retailer Genesco has decided to venture outside of the United States and expand its brand portfolio in Europe. Genesco, which specialises in footwear, headgear, sports apparel and accessories, also owns US-based footwear brand Journeys. The firm recently tested the water outside of the US by opening three Journeys stores in Canada. Now, in what appears to be a mutually beneficial agreement, the retailer has acquired independent UK footwear retailer Schuh for £100 million, with deferred payments of £25 million, subject to Colin Temple, managing director of Schuh, and Mark Crutchely, its finance director, staying with the company. There will also be an earnings-related bonus of up to £25 million in 2015.

Robert J. Dennis, chairman, president and CEO of Genesco, spoke at a conference call in late June, saying the

acquisition represents the next step in the firm’s international expansion. “We have had an ambition to do something more international and Canada gave us some confidence that these trends existed,” he said. “We spent some time talking to vendors, asking where they thought Journeys would have the best fit.” Believing they would find their opportunity within the UK, Genesco searched within the country’s footwear retail market. “We looked at a lot of opportunities but it was clear to us that Schuh represented the best fit with what we do,” said Mr Dennis. “Schuh provides us with an immediate and established retail presence in the United Kingdom, a highly experienced international management team, and improved insight into global fashion trends. The concept is similar to Journeys in customer demographics, product offering and operating philosophy, so it is a business we know and understand. At the same time, we believe that the combined businesses will benefit from significant merchandising synergies and from many opportunities to share best practices to our mutual benefit. Financially, the Schuh business is

US retailer Genesco recently bought UK-based footwear retailer Schuh, in a £125 million deal. International expansion is a bonus for both companies, as business practices and trends predicting are shared across the Atlantic.