Many investors turn their noses up at retailers, thinking that superior returns can’t be found in boring businesses that sell everyday products. They couldn’t be more wrong. Many retailers have had huge share-price rallies at some stage in their trading histories. One market darling is Shoe Zone (Aim: SHOE), which featured in my article in MoneyWeek highlighting “four stocks for 2022” at 110p. It has since reached highs of 290p. But it released a profit warning on 12 March. The stock fell like a stone and currently sells for 200p.
The company blamed an unexpectedly large increase in the national living wage and a rise in container costs owing to the Suez Canal situation. It also cited rising expenses relating to upgrading its property portfolio and noted that sales at the end of the autumn/winter season were slower than anticipated.
The first two factors are not company-specific. However, mounting costs to refurbish units
