THE DISCOUNT shoe brand’s name says it all: pay less. Payless, a leading affordable shoe retailer from Kansas, USA, founded in 1956, came to the Philippines in 2010.
After 14 years, the brand unveiled a new store concept at the One Ayala Mall on July 18. Boasting a more industrial look, it joins the 48 stores they have in the Philippines, with five more coming this year.
During a tour of the store on July 18, Raissa Barzaga, General Manager of Footwear Specialty Retailers, Inc. (a subsidiary of the SSI Group that operates the Philippine franchise for Payless shoes) told BusinessWorld about what Filipinos buy at Payless. “You see everything. We offer from Men’s, Women’s, and kids; it’s all across categories. It’s also across ages. There’s also for lola (grandma), then we have also for the toddlers. We have the shoes for everybody in this store. That’s really the trend, and that’s really our thrust,” she said.
Among their new lines are Comfort Plus for men and women, which offer memory foam soles for added comfort. Most of their stock is made of fabric or faux leather. Ms. Barzaga gave us tips on how to care for them. “You just wipe them with an ordinary cloth. Or a damp cloth. Aside from the shoe care, you can just do that. Sorry, sometimes, I wash my shoes,” she said.
She also said that Payless’ own shoe care line will arrive in the Philippines soon.
Payless, founded by the Pozez cousins in Kansas in 1956, went public in 1962. It passed through many hands, filing for bankruptcy twice, in 2017 and 2019. The store closures that followed its bankruptcies gave way to a silver lining: it opened an e-commerce venture in 2020. But the silver lining has dulled.
Upon viewing the website as of press time, the website only has a photo of two legs in the air wearing flats, saying, “We’ve got something in the works.”
“We appreciate your patience with us as we’re busy behind-the-scenes working on a shopping experience that will knock your socks off,” said the website, while providing links to their stocks on Amazon. “Effective Aug. 11, 2023, retail sales in North America on Payless.com are no longer available. Please note that all orders made on or after June 6, 2023, are final and non-returnable. We thank you for your patience as we continue to work diligently on the future of Payless.com.”
However, Payless.ph in the Philippines is up and jumping. While their American parent only embraced going online in 2020, the Philippine counterpart been at it since 2018. “We were trying to make sure that the current customers, the Millennials and the Gen Z — it’s different when you shop right?,” said Ms. Barzaga of how online appeals to younger shoppers.
She recalled how the pandemic jumpstarted online sales. It has stabilized now, with Ms. Barzaga telling us that today, while there is a 2% to 3% difference in their online sales versus their in-store sales, the difference was up to 5% during the pandemic. Aside from payless.ph, their shoes are also carried on online platforms Shopee, Lazada, and Zalora.
The pandemic also influenced the styles they carry: “More than anything else after the pandemic, the shoes are really for comfort,” she said.
It’s not hard to find cheap shoes in the Philippines, if you know where to find them. Ms. Barzaga, however, comparing their shoe prices to those in other marts, noted, “Some of our shoes are actually even cheaper. They have (shoes at) P1,650. I have [shoes at] P795!” She said that the most expensive shoes they carry cost P2,200. “We have markdowns every month, because we have arrivals every week.”
More than the price, she says that people come for the store experience: because all of the shoes are on display, “You’re not going to wait for your shoe size.” This is an important point to make as at some of the larger shoe stores it may take up to 15 minutes before the requested style and size can be retrieved from the storeroom for the customer to try on.
Payless Philippines has also made a mark in other countries where their parent company is present. “We were able to dominate the design in terms of influencing the whole Payless business in the US and Latin America. They actually copy the designs (sold here),” she said.
The rest of the Payless stores in the Philippines will be renovated according to the One Ayala store’s current look, and there are plans to build more stores in SM malls in Seaside Cebu, Baguio, Dasmariñas, Cavite, Iloilo; and in Ayala Center Cebu. — JLG
