Independent footwear retailers would once again have recorded a significant decline in turnover between July and September 2026. According to the quarterly barometer produced in partnership with the Fédération des Détaillants en Chaussures de France (FDCF), the average decline would reach 5.60% over the period.
A decline that is becoming entrenched
This third consecutive decline is part of a deteriorating trajectory. The first quarter had already been marked by a drop of 4.50%, followed by 4.20% in the second quarter. The third quarter nevertheless benefited from an extra week of sales, with the summer sales exceptionally extended until 28 July 2026, without managing to reverse the trend.
More broadly, independent fashion as a whole (ready-to-wear, footwear, lingerie, accessories and leather goods combined) would show turnover down 8.10% in the third quarter of 2026, compared with an average of -3.40% for all retail over the same period.
The hardest-hit segments
Within footwear, the men's segment would appear to be the most affected, with an average decline of 6.20%. Women's footwear would fall by 5.40%, while the children's segment would limit the decline slightly, to 5.10%.
The size of businesses also plays a role. Shops with no employees would record the sharpest decline, at 6.60% between early July and late September 2026, followed by businesses with fewer than five employees (-6.10%). Businesses with five to ten employees (-4.40%) and ten to twenty employees (-4.10%) would hold up better, as would the largest businesses, which would manage to limit their decline to 3.95%.
City centres on the front line
Location also widens the gaps. City-centre high street shops would record the sharpest decline, at 6.55% in the third quarter of 2026, ahead of city-centre shopping centres and malls (-5.60%) and retail parks and commercial zones (-5%). Out-of-town shopping centres would appear to be the least affected locations, with a decline of 4.55%.
At the regional level, Grand Est would record the largest decline, at 6.60%, ahead of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (-6.50%), Hauts-de-France and Centre-Val de Loire (-6.40% each), and Pays de la Loire (-6.35%). L'Île-de-France would show a decline of 6.05%. Conversely, Corse (-4.20%) and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (-4.50%) would show the smallest declines, ahead of Occitanie (-4.90%), Bretagne (-5.10%) and Nouvelle-Aquitaine (-5.20%).
A deteriorated economic and social context
Several factors are said to have combined to weigh on activity. Rising fuel prices are said to have increased pressure on household purchasing power, while a particularly tense social climate, marked in particular by repeated Saturday demonstrations (a day that is nonetheless essential for many independent shops), would add to retailers' difficulties. September is also said to have been marked by high temperatures, which were not favourable to the launch of autumn-winter collections.
A decisive fourth quarter
In this context, the fourth quarter would be decisive for the profession. Year-end purchases could temporarily help support activity, but after nine months of continuous decline, independent retailers would above all need a genuine revival in consumption to hope for a lasting reversal of the trend.
