MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Skechers Performance™, a division of footwear industry leader SKECHERS USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX), returns to Houston, Texas on January 20, 2019, for its sixth year as the official footwear and apparel sponsor of the Chevron Houston Marathon® and Aramco Houston Half Marathon®. A limited-edition collection of official race footwear and apparel will be available for purchase during the Houston Marathon Health & Fitness EXPO presented by Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Methodist on January 18 and 19.
“Skechers is ready to be back in Houston for our sixth year as footwear and apparel sponsor,” said Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers. “We’re proud to be part of this event and supporting runners in this city who have trained hard and put in countless miles preparing for this international race. And on Sunday the entire Skechers team will be cheering for our very own elite runner and champion Weldon Kirui, when he competes in the half marathon.”
Along with racing on Sunday, two-time Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon winner Kirui, as well as four-time Olympian and 2014 Boston Marathon winner Meb Keflezighi will sign autographs and meet fans at the Skechers Performance booth on Saturday, January 19, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
The 2019 limited edition collection of official race merchandise for both the Chevron Houston Marathon and the Aramco Houston Half Marathon will be available to purchase at the Skechers EXPO booth in the George R. Brown Convention Center, as well as online at Skechers.com.
The race collections feature the Skechers GO RUN Forza 3™ and Skechers GO RUN Ride7™ for both men and women. The limited-edition designs include “Houston” on the heel pull tab as well as an outline of the state of Texas on the side of the heel, with a star placed to represent the city of Houston.
Visitors to the EXPO will also have an early opportunity to purchase the Skechers GO RUN Razor 3 Hyper™ in a new red, white and blue colorway that complements the Houston Marathon colors before the public release later this month. This racing shoe is the first Skechers GO RUN style to feature innovative Skechers Hyper Burst™ midsole technology for highly responsive, ultra-lightweight and long-lasting cushioning.
Skechers Performance™ will once again offer a register round up for any purchase made in their official merchandise booth during the marathon EXPO. Customers will have the option to round their purchase up to the nearest whole dollar, with the difference being donated to the Houston Marathon Foundation—an organization that promotes the advancement of elite distance running in the U.S., and provides after school running programs, coaching and guidance to over 2,000 youths in the Houston area.
Additionally, through this partnership, Skechers Performance™ has donated 125 pairs of running shoes and 500 technical running T-shirts to high school students in need throughout the Houston area. Meb Keflezighi, in coordination with the Houston Marathon Foundation and Skechers, will also be meeting with about 60 of those local students on Friday for an exclusive running clinic to offer pre- and post-marathon tips as they prepare for the half marathon.
As the official apparel and footwear sponsor, Skechers Performance will outfit race ambassadors, the pacer group and course volunteers in official race apparel, as well as provide the finisher shirt for all runners.
Since its debut with the first model of Skechers GO RUN worn by Meb Keflezighi in 2012, Skechers Performance footwear and apparel has earned respect throughout the running world and won numerous awards within the footwear industry. In addition to being the footwear and apparel sponsor of the Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon Skechers Performance has been the title sponsor of the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon since 2014.
The Skechers GO RUN collection for men and women is available at Skechers retail stores and skechers.com as well as select retail partners.
About Skechers U.S.A., Inc.
Skechers U.S.A., Inc. based in Manhattan Beach, California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle footwear for men, women and children, as well as performance footwear for men and women. Skechers footwear is available in the United States and over 170 countries and territories worldwide via department and specialty stores, 2,802 Skechers Company-owned and third-party-owned retail stores, and the Company’s e-commerce websites. The Company manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia and the Middle East, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Canada, Japan, throughout Europe and Latin America. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, Skechers’ future domestic and international growth, financial results and operations including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and international expansion, opening of new stores and additional expenditures, and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will result,” “could,” “may,” “might,” or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include international economic, political and market conditions including the challenging consumer retail markets in the United States; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers, especially in the highly competitive performance footwear market; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2018. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and the companies cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can the companies assess the impact of all such risk factors on their respective businesses or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.
