Genesco history

The company grew rapidly and took the name General Shoe Company in 1931.

General Shoe Company's initial public stock offering took place in 1939.

By 1941, General Shoe had sales of $24 million, selling its shoes through its own 43 retail stores and 10,000 other outlets.

In 1946, the company made a second stock offering, at $40 per share, with the proceeds going into its general fund.

With the 1951 purchase of the Johnston & Murphy Shoe Company, Maxey took his company into the high-price ($27.50-$39.50) end of the shoe market.

The move built on General Shoe’s 1953 purchase of Whitehouse& Hardy, a chain of men’s shoe and clothing stores.

Early in 1959, Maxey gave a clear indication of his plans when he changed the company’s name again, to Genesco, dropping all reference to shoes.

In 1960, the company bought L. Greif & Bro.

A 1962 Time magazine article quoted a Wall Street analyst: "Genesco gives a lot of leeway to the divisions, and Maxey runs around ready to throw the book at them if they don't perform."

In 1968 Maxey achieved his dream.

In 1970 Maxey ran unsuccessfully for governor of Tennessee.

In May 1971, with Genesco’s earnings falling, Maxey stepped back in to take control.

A steep increase in hide prices in early 1972 hurt the shoe manufacturing side of the business.

As Frank explained in a May 18, 1974 article in Business Week, “All our businesses have to do with wants, not needs.

After his first year, the company reported a net profit of 84 cents a share, compared with a loss of $11.12 for 1977.

He built 100 new shoe stores in 1979, bringing the total to 960, and directed the stores to sell any brand that was in demand, not just Genesco brands.

In April 1980, Richard W. Hanselman was selected as president and heir apparent to Chairman Hanigan.

In 1987 he sold the company’s Canadian operations for $63 million.

In October, Grindstaff resigned, and David M. Chamberlain, a Genesco director since 1989, was named interim president, CEO and chairman.

In January 1991, Wire closed Genesco’s footwear components plant in Reynosa, Mexico, and in February, sold parts of The Charm Step/Easy Street division and liquidated the remaining assets.

By 1992 he felt confident enough about the financial picture to introduce new lines of men's casual shoes.

In January 1993, Grindstaff was named CEO, Wire became chairman, and the Johnston & Murphy unit continued its marketing tradition by sending President Clinton a pair of handmade blue suede loafers.

After an unexpected $38 million writedown, sales for the year ended January 31, 1994, were $573 million, but the company had a loss of $51.8 million.

As part of the 1995 restructuring, Genesco sold its children's shoe business (University Brands) and the Mitre Sports soccer business.

In the fiscal year ending January 30, 1996, the company had sales of $434.6 million.

In 1998 Genesco introduced what would later be one of its most popular chains, Underground Station, which offered clothing and shoes to young men and women in urban areas.

Although Genesco had excelled at manufacturing footwear during the first half of the 20th century, by 2002 it had closed every one of its factories and had crossed over to specialty retailing.

In 2004 Genesco acquired Hat World, a leading retailer of hats featuring officially licensed and branded athletic headwear from professional and collegiate sports teams.

Journeys accounted for 46 percent of corporate sales in fiscal year 2006.