Kids’ Shoe Prices Could Continue to Rise This Year After Moving Higher in February

Shoe prices rose again in February after a sharp increase at the start of the year, according to the latest data from the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA).

While overall inflation increased in-line with expectations last month, retail footwear prices rose 1.5 percent, higher than six of the last seven months and only a bit slower than January’s sharpest advance since 2022, the FDRA noted.

All key target markets saw year-over-year increases, led by children’s retail footwear prices jumping 3.0 percent, the fastest in 15 months, and a 14-month high. Men’s shoe prices advanced 1.5 percent last month, higher 21 of the last 28 months, and women’s footwear prices increased 0.8 percent, higher 47 of the last 58 months.

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Gary Raines, chief economist at FDRA, told FN that the increase in kids’ retail footwear prices came as the average landed duty-paid cost per pair of children’s footwear imports jumped 9.7 percent year-over-year in the latest month, extending to a 21-month streak of increases, the longest streak in more than 35 years of record keeping.

“The lengthening streak of year-over-year increases in landed costs witnessed in recent months hints children’s retail footwear prices may continue to gain more traction later this year, as this price pressure permeates the supply chain to store shelves and into footwear shoppers’ pockets in 2026,” Raines said.

Last month’s increase in retail footwear prices also comes at the same time the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that overall consumer prices in February remained “broadly staple” over January.

According to the bureau’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI), a broad measure of goods and services costs across the U.S. economy, retail inflation rose 2.4 percent in February from a year earlier after rising the same amount in January.

The report also saw prices increase 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in February, after rising 0.2 percent in January. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, the core CPI rose 0.2 percent in February and increased 2.5 percent over the same time last year.