Where Are DSW Shoes Made

DSW does not make shoes itself. It is a retailer, Designer Shoe Warehouse, that sells footwear from hundreds of outside brands, all manufactured wherever those individual brands produce their shoes.

DSW is owned by Designer Brands Inc, a publicly traded American company that also owns several private label footwear brands and, more recently, performance brands including Topo Athletic and Keds.

Because DSW carries such a wide range of third party brands alongside its own private labels, there is no single country of origin for DSW shoes overall. It depends entirely on which specific pair a shopper picks up.

Understanding the difference between a retailer and a manufacturer matters here, since DSW’s own private label shoes are made differently than the Nike, Skechers, or Clarks pairs sold on the same store shelves.

This article explains exactly what DSW is, where its private label shoes are made, who owns the company, and what other brands Designer Brands controls directly.

Where Are DSW Shoes Made?

DSW, short for Designer Shoe Warehouse, is a footwear retailer rather than a manufacturer, so most shoes sold under the DSW banner come from outside brands like Nike, Skechers, Clarks, or Steve Madden.

Those third party brands each manufacture their own shoes through their own contract factories, typically located in Vietnam, China, Indonesia, or Cambodia, regardless of the fact that DSW is the store selling them.

DSW also sells private label shoes under brand names owned directly by its parent company, Designer Brands Inc, including Audrey Brooke, Kelly and Katie, Lulu Townsend, and Poppie Jones.

These private label shoes are manufactured through contract factories in Asia, primarily China and Vietnam, following the same general sourcing model used by most mid market footwear brands.

Because DSW’s shelves mix hundreds of different brands, the honest answer to where a specific pair was made requires checking the country of origin label on that individual shoe rather than assuming a single answer for the whole store.

Who Owns DSW?

DSW is owned by Designer Brands Inc, a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker DBI, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, according to the company’s Wikipedia entry.

The company traces its roots back to 1969 as Shonac Corporation before eventually becoming Designer Brands, and it changed its stock ticker from DSW to DBI in April 2019 to reflect its broader brand portfolio beyond the retail chain.

Doug Howe serves as Chief Executive Officer of Designer Brands, leading the company through a period of brand portfolio expansion alongside ongoing challenges in DSW’s core retail comparable sales.

Designer Brands reported full year 2025 net sales of about 2.89 billion dollars, down roughly 3.9 percent year over year, reflecting a mixed performance across its Retail and Brand Portfolio segments, according to the company’s fourth quarter and fiscal year 2025 earnings release.

DSW operates several hundred stores across the United States along with an ecommerce platform, and Designer Brands also runs The Shoe Company, a Canadian retail subsidiary.

What Other Brands Does Designer Brands Own?

Beyond the DSW retail chain, Designer Brands owns Topo Athletic, a performance running shoe brand it acquired to strengthen its position in the athletic footwear category.

Designer Brands also acquired Keds from Wolverine World Wide in 2023, adding the classic American sneaker brand to a portfolio that already included several private label labels sold primarily through DSW stores.

These owned brands, unlike the hundreds of third party brands DSW carries, are manufactured through contract factories that Designer Brands sources directly, mostly across Asia, similar to how most mid sized footwear brands operate.

This brand portfolio strategy gives Designer Brands more control over margin and product development compared to relying entirely on reselling other companies’ footwear at retail.

Designer Brands has continued to invest marketing and product development resources into Topo Athletic specifically, viewing performance running as a growth opportunity distinct from DSW’s traditional off price positioning.

How Did DSW Get Its Start?

DSW traces its origins to 1991, when the first Designer Shoe Warehouse store opened in Dublin, Ohio, built around the concept of selling designer and name brand shoes at a discount in a large warehouse style format.

The concept grew quickly through the 1990s and 2000s, eventually expanding into hundreds of locations across the United States alongside a growing ecommerce presence.

Parent company Designer Brands, previously known simply as DSW Inc, later diversified beyond the single retail concept, acquiring and building additional brands to reduce reliance on any one business line.

That diversification strategy is part of why the parent company changed its name and stock ticker away from DSW specifically in 2019, even though the retail chain itself kept the well known DSW name.

How Is DSW Different From a Shoe Manufacturer?

A manufacturer like Nike or Skechers designs its own shoes and contracts factories to build them under its own brand name, controlling the entire process from design to final product.

DSW, by contrast, primarily buys finished shoes wholesale from those manufacturers and resells them at discount or off price pricing, which is why the store carries so many different brands under one roof.

This retailer model means DSW’s core value proposition is selection and pricing rather than manufacturing quality control, since the company does not directly oversee production for most items on its shelves.

For Designer Brands’ own owned labels, including Topo Athletic and Keds, the company does take on more direct manufacturing oversight, similar to a traditional footwear brand rather than a pure retailer.

This mixed model, part retailer and part brand owner, has become increasingly common in footwear retail, as pure resellers look for ways to capture more margin through owned product lines.

DSW vs Other Off Price Shoe Retailers

DSW competes with other off price and discount footwear retailers, all of which similarly do not manufacture the majority of what they sell, instead sourcing overstock, closeout, or wholesale inventory from established brands.

The key differentiator for DSW compared to some competitors is its combination of full price new releases alongside discounted inventory, plus its growing portfolio of owned private label and acquired brands.

For more on how specific footwear brands sold at DSW handle their own manufacturing, see Where Are Skechers Shoes Made and Where Are Vans Shoes Made.

Shoppers who want to know exactly where a specific DSW purchase was made should check the country of origin label on that shoe rather than assuming a single manufacturing story applies across the entire store.

Is DSW a Good Place to Buy Shoes?

DSW is widely regarded as a convenient one stop shop for footwear, offering a wide selection of brands, sizes, and price points under one roof, along with a loyalty rewards program that many repeat shoppers value.

Customer reviews tend to be positive regarding selection and pricing, particularly for shoppers looking to compare multiple brands in person before buying, something harder to do shopping single brand websites individually.

Some customer feedback points to inconsistent inventory across different store locations, which is a common tradeoff for a retailer carrying hundreds of brands rather than a single manufacturer with centralized production.

Overall, DSW remains one of the more established footwear retailers in the United States, and its expanding owned brand portfolio, including Topo Athletic and Keds, gives the company additional ways to compete beyond pure reselling.

Shoppers who want the most consistent quality control experience at DSW often gravitate toward well known national brands sold in store, since those items carry the manufacturing standards of their original brand rather than a DSW specific process.

Frequently Asked Questions About DSW Shoes

Does DSW make its own shoes?

Only for its private label and owned brands, including Audrey Brooke, Kelly and Katie, Topo Athletic, and Keds. Most shoes sold at DSW come from outside brands that manufacture their own footwear separately.

Who owns DSW?

DSW is owned by Designer Brands Inc, a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker DBI, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, and led by CEO Doug Howe.

Where are DSW private label shoes made?

DSW’s private label shoes, including brands like Kelly and Katie and Lulu Townsend, are manufactured through contract factories in Asia, primarily China and Vietnam.

Does DSW own Keds and Topo Athletic?

Yes. Designer Brands, DSW’s parent company, acquired Keds from Wolverine World Wide in 2023 and also owns Topo Athletic, adding both to its portfolio of directly controlled footwear brands.