Aerosoles

Aerosoles is a women’s footwear brand that focuses on comfortable, fashion-forward shoes for everyday wear. The company designs and sells pumps, flats, sandals, boots, and loafers that are built around comfort technologies and offered at accessible prices. Today, most sales come through its own ecommerce site, major department stores, and national footwear chains, with a smaller contribution from a limited number of branded stores.

The brand was founded in 1987 by Kenneth Edelstein, who had previously helped build Nine West. From the start, the goal was to pair style with patented comfort construction so women could wear dress and casual shoes all day. Over the next two decades, Aerosoles expanded from a single concept into a sizable specialty retailer. It opened mall and outlet locations across the United States while also building a meaningful wholesale business. By 2014, the company reported more than 300 retail and outlet stores worldwide alongside broad distribution in department stores.

As of September 2017, Aerosoles operated 4 company stores, concentrated in flagship locations in New York and New Jersey, after a significant restructuring of its real estate footprint. In September 2017 the company filed for Chapter 11 protection and announced plans to close the bulk of its mall-based fleet. The restructuring allowed Aerosoles to exit many underperforming leases and lean into channels that were already performing well, particularly ecommerce and wholesale. Following the process, the brand and its intellectual property moved under private equity ownership, and the Aerosoles name continued in the market as a going concern.

In recent years the company has been acquired by American Exchange Group, which now owns Aerosoles and has focused on extending the label across multiple distribution channels rather than rebuilding a large chain of company-operated stores. As of August 2023, Aerosoles products are sold online and through select retail partners, with only a small number of branded locations relative to its pre-2017 footprint. The brand’s reach is national across the United States, with additional international presence handled mostly through partner retailers instead of directly operated units.

Over roughly the last five years, Aerosoles has completed its shift from a large brick-and-mortar chain to a leaner, partner-driven model. The emphasis today is on digital sales, wholesale placements in department stores and national footwear chains, and selective physical stores that support brand visibility. For owners and developers, Aerosoles now appears more often as a recognizable comfort brand within multi-tenant environments than as a widespread in-line tenant. When the company does look at new space, it tends to favor key urban locations and strong outlet centers where a focused flagship or outlet format can create destination traffic and complement established fashion footwear co-tenancy.