DSW - Fashion Company Profile
DSW - Designer Shoe Warehouse - is the Columbus, Ohio footwear chain opened in 1991, built on self-service warehouse stores full of discounted designer and brand-name shoes. Its parent traded as DSW Inc. until 2019, when it renamed itself Designer Brands Inc.; the stores still trade as DSW.
Company Snapshot
- Status
- Operating - the footwear retail chain of Designer Brands Inc., with several hundred warehouse stores in the United States
- Type
- Chain of Designer Brands Inc. (NYSE: DBI; the company traded as DSW Inc. until its 2019 renaming)
- Headquarters
- Columbus, Ohio, United States
- Founded
- 1991 - the first Designer Shoe Warehouse store opened in Dublin, Ohio
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Company Profile
The store counts in the record below are dated snapshots - April 2006 and April 2010 - kept as the time capsules the filing itself calls them. The model they describe, off-price branded footwear at warehouse scale, is still the chain's model today.
The corporate facts as recorded: DSW (NYSE: DSW) consummated its initial public offering on July 5, 2005; prior to the IPO, DSW was wholly owned by Retail Ventures, Inc. (NYSE: RVI), which at filing owned more than 60 percent of the outstanding common shares and controlled over 90 percent of the voting rights. Executive offices are given as 810 DSW Drive, Columbus, Ohio 43219, phone (614) 237-7100. The stated core focus ties the format to the customer: to create a distinctive store experience that satisfies both the rational and emotional shopping needs of customers by offering a vast, exciting selection of in-season styles combined with the convenience and value they desire. Rational and emotional, in that order, is the warehouse shoe store's whole pitch - the spreadsheet and the treasure hunt in the same aisle.
DSW History
The earlier record for this company - its history, past brand line-ups, figures and photographs from the periods described - is kept on a separate page for historical reference.
DSW History & Historical Profile →Common Questions
What does DSW sell, and how many stores did it have?
Brand name and designer dress, casual and athletic footwear for women and men. As of April 15, 2010 it operated 308 stores in 39 states plus an e-commerce site, and supplied footwear to 356 leased locations in the United States, in the historical record.
When did DSW go public?
Its initial public offering was consummated on July 5, 2005 (NYSE: DSW); before the IPO it was wholly owned by Retail Ventures, Inc., which retained over 60 percent of shares and over 90 percent of voting rights at filing, in the historical record.
What does the April 2006 description of DSW say?
The April 2006 description of the format runs: stores with over 30,000 pairs in more than 2,000 styles on the selling floor, a self-service format, weekly deliveries of new styles, and everyday prices competitive with other retailers' sale prices - kept as a labelled historical description, exactly as recorded.
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