Journeys stores have long been home to teen footwear staples like Converse, Vans, Dr. Martens and Ugg. For the past few years, though, the merchandising team has been augmenting those brands with more products that match today’s youth consumer.

“The consumer today [doesn’t] want to be put in a singular box. They’re much more open to more ideas,” said Chris Santaella, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer of the Journeys Global Retail Group. “You’re seeing them really embrace a lot more brands. So we took our best brands and accelerated those.”

The merchant, who joined Journeys in 2024 after a long tenure with another mall retailer — Foot Locker — noted that young people today are “dramatically” different from previous generations.

“In years past, a consumer would have been identified with a certain brand or product type,” Santaella said. “Our girl is as comfortable having a pair of [Adidas] Sambas as a pair of Ugg Tasmans, a pair of Birkenstocks, a pair of Converse or a pair of New Balance running shoes.”

Note that mention of “our girl.” In recent years, Journeys has adopted a “Lead With Her” strategy that puts the female consumer at the forefront.

As Mimi Vaughn — board chair, president and chief executive officer of parent company Genesco Inc. — has noted in earnings calls, Journeys’ strategic growth plan aims to serve a wider teen audience interested in style and trend that is six to seven times larger than the market it has traditionally served.

And the retailer is benefiting on the trend front as well, according to Santaella. “The men’s business is much narrower today. You’ve got a few things that are performing very well. When you look across our women’s business, we’ve got a broad range of brands, a broad range of categories and a broad range of items that are all performing very well.”

For instance, in its fiscal second quarter ended Aug. 1, Journeys reported “broad-based” strength, especially across lifestyle running, sandals and lower-profile athletic styles, as well as newer fashion looks.

For the back-to-school season, Santaella was enthusiastic about lower-profile looks across multiple brands, led by the hot mary jane, ballerina and wedge silhouettes. “There’s a lot happening in that space to give her new ideas around athletic that she’s never seen before, that are a little bit dressier than in the past,” he explained.

On a call with analysts in June, Vaughn called out the Adidas Samba as one example of where the retailer has been fueling growth through extensions into new colors, materials and patterns.

John Miller, president of Adidas North America, described the brand’s partnership with Journeys as a “true strategic collaboration.”

“The foundation of our success comes down to shared consumer obsession. By staying connected to culture and maintaining a collaborative approach, we’ve consistently delivered relevant products and experiences,” he said.

Journeys has been strengthening its relationships with brands across the spectrum, using its new consumer focus and 4.0 store concept as key selling points. That’s led to the introduction of new names like Hoka, Veja and the return of Nike.

The Swoosh reentered Journeys stores in November 2025 after a several-year hiatus that Santaella described as a “difficult proposition.”

“We were the only ones in the mall doing business without Nike,” he said, noting that the brand is still the biggest name in the youth culture space. “It was critical for them to be part of our portfolio.”

At the same time, Santaella added, the absence of Nike helped forge the retailer’s successful multibrand, multicategory approach. “The teams did an unbelievable job over the years of developing businesses,” he said. “Now we get to bring Nike into something that’s already been developed.”

Journeys has been building its Nike assortment from the ground up, focusing first on key women’s styles. Men’s is set to launch in October.

To stay on top of notoriously fickle teen shopping habits, Santaella said the key is to be constantly out in the market, spending time in stores and with brand partners across the globe, to best understand the consumer and the industry.

And Journeys’ expanded range of brands is a boon as well. “It’s one way we can deliver consistent newness to our consumer,” the chief merchant said. “If I’ve got a 15-brand portfolio, I will always have something new. I will always have something seasonally relevant, so that allows us to navigate the trends and the seasons.”

In the larger consumer marketplace, price inflation has been a major drag on sales for several years, but teens continue to be less impacted. “It hasn’t really changed buying habits,” said Santaella. “Average retail [spends] continue to go up, and they’ve been going up for two years.”

When speaking to investors about Q2 earnings last week, Vaughn pointed to larger transaction sizes, more full-price selling and better conversion rates in the quarter as signs its product strategy is working. “[Our customers] shop with purpose when there’s a reason and they don’t when there’s not. And they’re willing to pay up when we deliver the right product,” she said.

Looking ahead to the holiday season and 2027, Santaella said he is feeling optimistic. “That’s the role of the merchant,” he said. “Our job is to always try to make the business better than it is today. And I think our consumer proposition is very strong.”