Responsible Business
Across our portfolio of brands, we feel passionately that how we do business is as important as how much business we do.
Our long-standing pledge to quality craftmanship includes creating sustainable and lasting value for all our stakeholders. What it really comes down to is caring - about people, ethics and integrity, our shared planet, and about healthy financial performance. Caring is so integral to our business that we champion it as one of our core company values.
The Caleres story is most simply defined by the company’s mission: Inspire people to feel great...feet first.
Explore our five-star ESG promise and our portfolio of ambitious ESG targets that we are working to achieve in our 2023 ESG Report - Caleres Cares...Feet First.
Our long-standing pledge to quality craftmanship includes creating sustainable and lasting value for all our stakeholders. What it really comes down to is caring - about people, ethics and integrity, our shared planet, and about healthy financial performance. Caring is so integral to our business that we champion it as one of our core company values.
The Caleres story is most simply defined by the company’s mission: Inspire people to feel great...feet first.
Explore our five-star ESG promise and our portfolio of ambitious ESG targets that we are working to achieve in our 2023 ESG Report - Caleres Cares...Feet First.
Letter from our President and CEO
As we cross the halfway mark on our 2025 ESG goals, we have seen strong progress and, in some cases, have completed goals and started new ambitious projects. Our brands are incorporating sustainable materials that fit our customers' unique needs. We are using new methods to produce, package, and ship our products. Within our workplaces, we are focused on advancing diversity, equity and inclusion; strengthening our culture; supporting our Associates with opportunities to grow; and caring for the communities where we live and work. There is much to be excited about from the past year and about what's to come. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about us.
Jay Schmidt, President and Chief Executive Officer
At Caleres, we care passionately about helping people feel great...feet first. That comfort arises from both our product ESG portfolio and our five-star promise for delivering excellence: Caleres Cares...Feet First.
Fit means more than how great our shoes feel on your feet. Every bit as important is how well our brands align with your values.
- Naturalizer launched a Hope for Flowers collection in collaboration with Tracy Reese. 100% of the fabrics and leathers in the collection are environmentally preferred materials, and the proceeds from the collection benefit Nest's Makers United program to increase diversity in local creative economies.
- More than 180,000 trees have been planted since 2019 through Dr. Scholl's partnership with Trees for the Future, with one tree planted for every shoe sold in its Original Collection.
- Over 300,000 children in foster care received donations through Famous Footwear's partnership with the Ticket to Dream Foundation.
step up for the earth
The One Planet Standard is a designation we give only to shoes that meet or exceed 51% on our Sustainable Footwear Index. We developed this standard to be comprehensive and consider the sustainability of a product across its entire lifecycle including these six key pillars: sample reduction, materials, packaging, supplier initiatives, brand philanthropy, and end-of-life solutions.
VIEW OUR SUSTAINABLE FOOTWEAR INDEX
Caleres creates sustainable value by governing and operating with integrity and transparency.
- Caleres was honored for the fourth time by the Women's Forum of New York as a 2021 Corporate Champion, recognizing that women comprise 60% of our Board of Directors.
- 100% of the shoeboxes for our owned brands use environmentally preferred materials, already meeting our 2025 target. In addition, 52% of Caleres' products use environmentally preferred materials, halfway to our 2025 goal.
- The polyester used in Caleres-owned brands is composed of 37% environmentally preferred materials - nearly 2.5 times the fashion industry's average for recycled polyester.
Curious, creative people working in an inclusive and empowering environment continue to propel our company forward.
- Nearly 100% of our workforce has completed unconscious bias and microaggression training and every Associate established a personal DE&I goal that will be factored into their annual performance review.
- Caleres received a perfect score in 2021 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index for LGBTQ+ Equality.
- A framework was established for our company's first-ever Community Resource Groups to bring together Associates and their allies around common characteristics like race and ethnicity, gender, disabilities, and more.
We give back to people and communities in need and work to advance the profession and professionals of footwear.
- 100% of Caleres corporate Associates in the U.S. participated in fundraising campaigns for non-profit organizations in October. Their donations were matched by the Caleres Cares Charitable Trust, resulting in over $635,000 in total contributions.
- The Caleres Cares Charitable Trust donated $1.6 million in grants to charitable organizations and matched over $260,000 in gifts made by our Associates to organizations they care about (in addition to the matches referenced above).
- More than 141,000 items, including shoes, backpacks, and masks, were donated in 2021.
By holding our suppliers to high standards and taking part in industry and NGO initiatives, we help drive continuous improvement.
- Over 96% of our strategic factories comply with our heightened labor standards, nearing our 2025 goal in just the first year.
- Caleres continues to be instrumental in leading Footwear Distributors and Retailers (FDRA) initiatives focused on responsible manufacturing and waste reduction, resulting in the development of important guiding principles for the industry.
- Caleres' participation in the FDRA Shoe Waste Program avoided 980 metric tons of CO2e emissions.
2025 ESG Targets and Our Progress
Based on the results of materiality assessment and growing stakeholder expectations of our business, we developed a portfolio of ESG targets that we seek to achieve by 2025. The chart below shows those targets and our progress against them.