How Cole Haan stays relevant after almost 100 years in business

After being in business for about a 100 years, Cole Haan is looking to more than heritage to stay relevant with consumers today.The footwear brand is focused on refreshing everything from its branding to its product assortment, while expanding beyond shoes into apparel and lifestyle categories.

“We’ve been hard at work just looking at what the roadmap looks like leading up toward our 100 years,” Jeanine Farucci, VP of global brand marketing at Cole Haan, told Retail Brew. “When we look back on what we’ve built over the last 100 years, that’s very important. But it’s really the look forward that’s keeping us in the game.”

The strategy comes as footwear retailers are faced with a consumer that has become increasingly value conscious amid years of inflation and economic uncertainty.

Per Circana, while US footwear sales have largely stabilized following the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, shoppers remain selective, prioritizing quality, versatility, and products that can serve multiple purposes over trend-driven purchases.

Cole Haan, long known for dress shoes, says sneakers now account for nearly 40% of its global business, as consumers dress for work and everyday life.

“We’ve been looking at our product assortment and really designing and reshifting for how the customer’s life is continuously evolving,” Farucci said. “Even back when we pioneered the hybrid dress shoe, [it] was really in pursuit of eliminating trade-offs between style and performance.”

This is in line with the company’s product innovation efforts, wherein instead of relying on flashy technology, it is looking to what Farucci describes as “invisible innovation”—features consumers may not notice immediately but experience throughout the day.

The company also operates an innovation studio in Greenland, New Hampshire, where teams develop proprietary technologies aimed at improving comfort, cushioning, energy return, and lightweight construction.

But those innovations also have practical benefits, Farucci explained, from lighter shoes that make commuting easier to cushioning that “makes you forget you’re wearing a dress shoe for 12 hours.”

“It’s as much about what you see on the outside as what you can’t see on the inside,” she said.

“The customer, at their simplest form, just expects more out of their products. Versatility has become table stakes.”

Beyond footwear: And Cole Haan has certainly not limited its approach to just shoes. After launching a golf footwear line several years ago, the company has expanded into golf apparel and plans to introduce additional men’s apparel and lifestyle categories as it works toward becoming more of a lifestyle brand.

That includes its marketing strategy where creators or influencers are not the sole means of building brand awareness. Per Farucci, the retailer is taking a “360 approach” that combines social creators, brand ambassadors, cultural partnerships, digital experiences, and physical retail.

“Everything works together,” she said, adding that brick-and-mortar remains a critical piece of the equation, even as e-commerce continues to grow.

In fact, for Cole Haan—which expects to open its 600th store globally in the near future—stores work as both sales channels and places to build relationships with customers through community events and brand experiences.

“The brick-and-mortar experience is as important to us as our online experience,” Farucci said. “They play different roles, but should be complementary.”

As the brand prepares to celebrate a century in business, Farucci said the milestone is less about commemorating the past than building for the next generation of consumers. For the company, that means expanding its global footprint, entering new product categories, and continuing to invest in the kind of versatility it believes shoppers increasingly expect.

“It’s truly…the roadmap for what the future consumer looks like beyond the year 2028 for us,” Farucci said.