Year of the shoe

Shopping Centers Today

Americans cosseted their feet in 2005, spending some $42 billion on shoes, up 9 percent from the year before, says a report from New York City-based research firm The NPD Group. U.S. consumers bought 1.4 billion pairs, up 5 percent from 2004. Shoe sales were three times greater than apparel sales, the firm reports.

Men’s footwear sales grew the most, up 9 percent to $16 billion. The best sellers were slip-on loafers, which accounted for one out of every four dollars spent on footwear in department stores last year, NPD reports, and thongs, sales of which have increased fourfold since 2002.