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U.S. Shoe's history dates back to 1879 with the establishment of the Stern-Auer Shoe
Company in Cincinnati. In 1921, eight other Cincinnati shoe manufacturers consolidated to form the United States Shoe Corporation—which had Red Cross Shoes as its flagship brand—but by 1929 the combine was failing,
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In 1955, U.S. Shoe bought women's shoe maker Joyce Inc., and in 1957 obtained the rights to the Selby brand. The company also introduced other brands, such as
Cobbies and Socialites. In 1961 the company entered the children's shoe market with the purchase of Vaisey-Bristol Shoe Co., maker of the
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and Joseph Stern, head of Stern-Auer, proposed to merge the two companies with the provision that Stern take over marketing for Red Cross Shoes. After two years of negotiations, the new United States Shoe Corp. was created with Stern as its president. The company survived the
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Group. In April 1995, Luxottica announced it had reached an agreement to purchase U.S. Shoe for $ 1.4 billion. In
October 1995, Luxottica spun off U.S. Shoe's apparel division, which by this time was known as the Women's Specialty Retailing Group and included
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Jumping Jacks brand. U.S. Shoe entered the shoe retailing business in the 1960s, acquiring Wm. Hahn & Co. in 1963 and Cutter-Karcher Shoe
Company in 1964. It expanded into the apparel business by purchasing women's clothing retailer
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in 1987, and teen clothing chain Ups 'N' Downs and women's clothing chain Caren
Charles were sold in 1993. T.H. Mandy was shut down in 1991. Its core shoe brands began to wane, though newer brand Easy Spirit proved popular.
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in 1969 and creating men's clothing retailer J. Riggings in 1970. It acquired discount women's apparel retailer T.H. Mandy in 1981. In 1984, U.S. Shoe purchased optical retailer
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launched a hostile takeover attempt of U.S. Shoe, with the goal of acquiring LensCrafters. In March 1995, U.S. Shoe agreed to sell its shoe division to the
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allowed U.S. Shoe to resume using the name on the condition that the company publicly disclaim any association with the
American Red Cross.
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The apparel division added chains such as Career Image, Petite
Sophisticate, and August Max Woman, while J. Riggings was sold to
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objected to the commercial use of the Red Cross name, and U.S. Shoe voluntarily suspended use of the name; in 1948, the
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by cutting the price of the Red Cross shoe from $ 10 to $ 6. At the onset of
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204:"U.S. Shoe agrees to sell much of Caren Charles and Ups 'N Downs stores"
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263:"U.S. Shoe, Luxottica Courting Shareholders In Takeover Battle"
347:"Luxottica Sells Apparel Group In Enfield To Casual Corner"
236:"T.H. MANDY TO CLOSE STORES, SELL OTHERS, CHANGE ITS NAME"
319:"Luxottica to Acquire U.S. Shoe for $ 1.4 Billion"
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24:) was a retailing conglomerate headquartered in
381:Defunct retail companies of the United States
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126:"The United States Shoe Corporation History"
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291:"Nine West And U.S. Shoe Agree on Deal"
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176:"Edison Brothers to acquire J. Riggins"
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32:from 1984 until its own acquisition by
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391:Retail companies established in 1879
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396:Shoe companies of the United States
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18:United States Shoe Corporation
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401:Companies based in Cincinnati
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209:United Press International
181:United Press International
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59:Federal Trade Commission
78:Edison Brothers Stores
234:(October 24, 1991).
99:Leonardo Del Vecchio
241:The Washington Post
324:The New York Times
296:The New York Times
151:"LensCrafters Inc"
55:American Red Cross
355:. October 5, 1995
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130:Funding Universe
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101:and his family.
47:Great Depression
26:Cincinnati, Ohio
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71:LensCrafters
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51:World War II
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30:LensCrafters
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375:Categories
359:January 3,
331:January 3,
303:January 3,
275:January 3,
247:January 3,
216:January 6,
188:January 3,
160:January 3,
135:January 3,
105:References
90:Nine West
86:Luxottica
84:In 1995,
36:in 1995.
34:Luxottica
22:U.S. Shoe
40:History
53:, the
361:2018
333:2018
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137:2018
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