Rocky Brands Confirms Price Hikes Starting in June, Plans Production Shifts

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Rocky Brands Inc. is moving quickly to mitigate the impact from tariffs.

“While the situation is very fluid and the outcome of ongoing negotiations is uncertain, we moved quickly to mitigate the impact of the higher tariffs and believe we have a sound plan in place to protect our gross profit dollars under multiple scenarios,” Jason S. Brooks, chairman, president and CEO, told investors in a first quarter earnings conference call Tuesday. “Based on current tariff rates, we expect to implement price increases on the majority of our footwear styles in early June and will maintain flexibility to adjust prices accordingly based on any future changes as they are announced.”

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He said the company is also “accelerating” its efforts to reduce the amount of products sourced from China. “This includes more footwear from partners in Vietnam, Cambodia, India, and as well, shifting production to our manufacturing facilities in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico,” Brooks said.

As for the higher prices and impact on consumer spending, Brooks said: “While we anticipate that higher prices will put some pressure on the consumer demand, we believe the strength of our brands and the functionality of our products, along with our diversified sourcing structure, has us well positioned to navigate [the] current situation and allow us to achieve our financial targets for the year.”

Brooks said the company “hasn’t seen anything crazy from our retail partners” regarding possible price increases, and he said that while odd, “the consumer doesn’t seem to be freaking out about this right now.”

Thomas D. Robertson, chief operating and chief financial officer, said on the call that the company has about six or seven month, on average, of products to sell through in 2025.

“We will be able to get through the majority of this year without feeling a lot of the pain from the tariffs yet. And it’s also going to give us ample time to transition product out of China and into Vietnam, India, Cambodia, and then also to transition to our own manufacturing facilities in Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico,” he said.

Robertson said the total volume out of China is expected to be “just less than 20 percent by the end of this year,” clarifying that some of the product lines from China will be leveraged for shipment to Rocky’s international operations.

He also said that the company isn’t prepared to share information about the price increases, although there’s been “a lot of analysis on it,” since it is still waiting to see what other actions might occur this week in regarding to China tariffs. “So, we certainly welcome a reduction in the Chinese tariffs, but we’ll be announcing a price increase here — regardless of any changes with the Chinese tariffs over the next week or two — to go into effect in June,” Robertson said.