Will Keen's Stated Focus on 'Doing the Right Thing,' Price Freezes, and 'Made in America' Products Impress Customers?

Privately held footwear company Keen has made a name for itself in its retail sector, cultivating a reputation for quality among consumers and building longstanding relationships with vendors and retailers.

In a recent interview with Modern Retail's Julia Waldow, Keen COO Hari Perumal discussed the brand's recent announcement that it would not be hiking prices in response to President Donald Trump's wide-reaching tariffs on foreign imports. Moreover, in a second discussion held with Shop Eat Surf Outdoor (via sister publication Retail TouchPoints), Perumal discussed the nature of Keen's focus on brand loyalty and long-term partnerships with its distributors.

Keen Owns One-Third of Its Production, Plans To Absorb Tariff Costs Alongside Vendors

Waldow underscored the fact that Keen owned one-third (33%) of its production, leaning heavily on factories in the U.S., the Dominican Republic, and Thailand, with the remainder being produced through partners in Cambodia, Vietnam, and India.

Compared to many competitors in the footwear space, Keen appears to be in an enviable position, particularly as the company has zero tariff exposure in China — yet, despite this, it still faces a 10% universal tariff as well as potentially higher reciprocal tariffs on a nation-by-nation basis.

"So, the way we absorb this is through upstream value chain efficiency. What does that mean? The footwear-producing factory will share some of those burdens. And then the tier-one vendor that supplies to the footwear factory will share some of those in their material costs. A tier-two vendor that supplies to tier-one will absorb some of those costs," Perumal explained.

"We have these long-term partnerships that we have developed over a very long time that enable us to share this cost upstream, so we don’t have to pass this onto our fans," he added.

And despite the expectation of cost-cutting measures or planned expenses to make up for the profit shortfall related to freezing prices, the company has signaled that it expects to invest in new categories, including the imminent launch of a trail-running category.

Keen Plans To Build Kentucky Factory, Seeing Historical Strength in 'Made in America' Sentiment

Keen also recently announced plans to replace its factory in Portland, Oregon, with a new facility in Shepherdsville, Kentucky — a larger factory designed to take on 9% of the company's total production, up from 5% previously.

"Today, we’re building on that foundation with a new facility in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. Around 5% of our production comes from the U.S., and it’s primarily work boots, what we call utility products. We are expanding [production in the U.S.] to outdoor products and, possibly, the running category. Once operational, the Kentucky facility will be capable of producing up to 9% of our U.S. sales. More importantly, it will allow us to be faster, more responsive and closer to the market, reaching 80% of American consumers within two days by ground shipping," Perumal said.

"This is a major win, not only for logistics, but also for reducing our carbon footprint and increasing our operational agility," he added.

Perumal Talks 'Made in America' Work Boots, Impact of Supporting Its Customer/Retailer Shared Community

Finally, Perumal spoke to the related concepts of its U.S.-made high-end work boot product lineup, as well as its commitment to both loyal customers and retail partners.

On the first score, the COO admitted that he had reservations about manufacturing any products whatsoever stateside, particularly as labor expenses were 10 to 12 times more costly as compared to the same figures in Asian nations. However, he found clarity in a conversation with Keen's head of sales, who reiterated the centrality of domestic manufacturing to the brand's ethos.

"The [Keen] head of sales always said ‘Made in America’ is important. I’ve gone on several retail tours with our sales folks and the resounding answer is yes, retailers want American built, even if [the boots] cost something like $300. If we have a [Keen] fan that wants to buy the product, and we have a retailer that wants to carry the product, why not make it in America?” Perumal said.

The Keen exec elaborated on this point of consumer/retail sentiment, stating that loyalty to both its customers and its vendors (and retail distributors) was of prime importance.

In a reply to Waldow's questions related to price increases, Perumal indicated that price and payment flexibility were nothing new for the footwear brand — during the COVID-19 pandemic, Keen told retailers that they could pay Keen last if that would help alleviate some pressure on their balance sheets.

"Our first priority is showing up to support our community when they need us, at a time of so much uncertainty,” Perumal said. “If doing the right thing earns us more loyalty, that’s something we would welcome. But our main objective is to show up for our fans and retail partners when they need us most."

One caveat, however: While price increases have been ruled out by Keen for 2025, next year may be a different matter entirely. Price increases are generally inevitable, whether due to the usual effect of inflation or other factors, and the company is slated to reevaluate its price freeze in 2026 based upon prevailing macroeconomic conditions at that time.