Building a Winter Buy: The Boots and Formal Shoes That Carry a Men's Range

A men's leather range is usually decided by its winter half. Summer sells on colour and impulse. Winter sells on the two categories a customer walks in specifically to buy — a boot and a formal shoe — and replaces on a cycle you can plan around.

Here is what the winter side of our range actually consists of, and how a buyer might turn it into a first order.

The boots: two silhouettes, two colours each

There are four boots, and they are two shapes offered in two colours. The 116 Black and 116 Taba take a clean ankle-height profile — smart enough for an office, robust enough for daily winter wear. The 5109 Black and 5109 Brown are the same proposition in a second shape, so a store can carry two boots that do not compete with each other.

All four are built the same way: genuine leather upper, breathable lining, slip-resistant outsole. All four are made to order, which matters for planning — they are produced against confirmed orders rather than pulled from a shelf, so a winter boot buy wants to be placed early rather than topped up in December.

The formal lace-ups

Four again, and again two shapes in two colours: 272 Black and 272 Tan, 372 Black and 372 Brown. These are timeless formal cuts for business dress, ceremonies and smart occasions — the shoe someone buys because they have an event, which is a different and more urgent purchase than a boot.

Black outsells the browns in most stores. It is still worth carrying one brown or tan per shape: the customer who wants a brown formal shoe rarely accepts black as a substitute, and will leave to find one.

The styles that do not stop in March

Three of our formal styles are flagged for both seasons rather than winter alone, and they are the ones that keep earning shelf space after the boot buy is over. The 5195 Taba and 5195 Black formal loafers are a slip-on cut for the office and for weddings. The 5101 Taba Groomshoes and 5101 are built for a wedding day — cushioned for the number of hours one actually involves.

The 692 Black and 692 Tan Brown loafers, and the 1906 leather sneaker, sit in the same year-round bracket.

Doing the box arithmetic

We sell by the box, not the pair, and each box is a fixed size run. There are three:

• 8 pairs — EU 40×1, 41×2, 42×2, 43×2, 44×1
• 10 pairs — EU 40×1, 41×2, 42×2, 43×2, 44×2, 45×1
• 12 pairs — EU 40×1, 41×2, 42×3, 43×3, 44×2, 45×1

The practical difference is the top of the run: the 8-pair box stops at 44, the other two carry a 45. If your customer base skews larger, the 10 and 12 are the boxes to build on.

A workable first winter order is one box per colour on the two boot shapes and one on each formal shape — eight boxes, and a range that looks complete on the wall rather than like a sample set.

Terms

Every account is approved for prepayment, net 30 or net 60, and the discount shrinks as the terms lengthen: prepay carries the largest, net 60 is list. Prices are shown once your trade account is approved and signed in. If you do not have one yet, apply for wholesale access — applications are reviewed by a person, usually within two business days.