Footwear brand Hush Puppies has opened its first company-owned store in UK this week as the business seeks to raise brand awareness.

Hush Puppies - which last had a retail presence through a franchise partnership with Peter Newman Shoes in the early 2000s with two stores in Hastings and Maidstone - has returned to retail after a five-year hiatus.

The 1,600 sq ft store opened at The Mall at Cribbs Causeway in Bristol on Thursday, stocking 400 styles for men and women.

In the 1990s footwear group Hush Puppies operated a chain of 126 stores in the UK but these were subsequently closed.

Hush Puppies managing director, David Rist said: “We have returned to retail as we have lost so many wholesale customers with people going out of business, like Dolcis and Faith, and independents.”

Hush Puppies, owned by footwear group Wolverine, has 450 UK accounts, including retailers Schuh, Jones Bootmaker and Barratts.

Rist said the new store is not part of a major roll-out but it does plan to open four shops next year.

“We’re got a fantastic wholesale offer but this is about showing off our full range in front of the consumer and it will help wholesale sales,” he added.

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