Maguire Shoes, a footwear brand co-founded in 2017 by sisters Myriam and Romy Belzile-Maguire, is navigating a path to growth in the U.S. retail market, despite challenges posed by unexpected tariffs and industry barriers.
As female entrepreneurs in a traditionally male-dominated sector, the Belzile-Maguire sisters are reshaping the footwear industry with their innovative, women-led approach to design and leadership. Myrian emphasized the importance of their hands-on involvement in every step of product development, ensuring their shoes are designed with comfort and real-world wearability in mind.
The brand’s latest store, opened in Brooklyn, New York, in mid-December, has shown promising results, with customers flocking to the store despite seasonal weather challenges. While scaffolding around the store has impacted sales, the sisters remain optimistic, expecting sales to rise once the weather warms up. Maguire Shoes’ U.S. expansion plans are still in progress, with the company closely monitoring potential tariffs on European imports before committing to more U.S. locations.
Despite these uncertainties, the brand is already considering European ventures where margins align better with their direct-to-consumer pricing strategy.
Looking forward, Maguire Shoes is focused on both Canadian growth and expanding its U.S. footprint. The company is planning a significant collaboration across Canada and weighing the next steps for its U.S. growth. With their empathetic, women-led leadership model and commitment to long-term partnerships, the Belzile-Maguire sisters are well-positioned to continue disrupting the footwear industry while navigating the complexities of international expansion.
“We’ll see the full performance of the (Brooklyn) store once this scaffolding is down in July,” said Myriam.
“We’re waiting to see what’s going on with the tariffs, if they’re going to apply extra tariffs on European products because everything is made in Spain, Italy, and Portugal. We’re waiting to see that before opening a new store in the U.S. or if we go to Europe and do traditional wholesale.
“We’re thinking of maybe venturing into traditional wholesale in Europe only because the margin would allow our direct consumer price to make sense in a different market. We were looking originally at Boston, but we’re just waiting to see what happens before investing in a new U.S. store. Then, we’re going to concentrate more on marketing efforts in Canada for the time being.”
Besides the Brooklyn store, the retailer has locations in Toronto on Queen Street West, Montreal on St-Laurent Blvd, and in the Nolita neighbourhood in New York City.
Myriam said Maguire is working on a big Canadian collaboration that’s going to be all over Canada.
“We’re going to be able to talk about it shortly. But I think it’s going to be good for the Canadian market, and the store we’re doing the collaboration with has stores in every major Canadian city. That’s going to help us get our foot—or get our shoes—all across Canada.”
With International Women’s Day on March 8, Myriam said while women’s clothing performs the best in retail, there’s always more money to be made in women’s clothing and footwear than in men’s footwear.
“Most of the companies are owned by men. Even all the women’s shoe brands—most of them are owned by men, and all the factories are owned by men. So, it’s really surprising for a lot of people when you go to a footwear fair. I would say it’s like 85% men, and then there’s like 15% women. Already in our industry, we’re one of the few women who own a footwear brand,” she explained.
“We pick partners who don’t have a problem working with women. When we first went to a fair to find suppliers, a lot of people thought that we were designers for a company, and then they realized that we were the owners. At the time when we started, we were also a bit younger. It’s not often that you see two younger women at the head of a company. It’s still the case when I meet new people. They think that I work for the company, and then when they realize I’m the owner, they’re surprised to see that. It’s a really masculine industry.”
Myriam said women leaders lead with a bit more empathy.
“We try to not create conflict but work together and solve it. Like they say in politics, if women were around the table, maybe it would solve issues. It’s a bit the same thing in business. I feel the fact that we’re women and we’re trying to work with the factories as partners, not as equals, creates a different dynamic,” she said.
“I know from the feedback from my factories that they all really love working with us because they feel that we’re always fair with them. They know they can rely on us, and I think in a business relationship, that’s important. That’s what we’ve managed to create with our partners. Some of them we’ve been working with for like five or six years, almost since the beginning of the company. A lot of them are telling me that it’s rare these days to find partners that are faithful. Most businesses will just go where it’s the cheapest when we’re trying to create long-term relationships.
“And I think what makes a difference in our company is that we make women’s shoes, and we’re a bunch of women trying the shoes. It makes a big difference in the comfort of our product because in a lot of businesses, let’s say if it’s run by a group of men, there’s no woman to try the product, they will just create the shoe and then put it on the market, but it won’t be tested. I’m able to test it internally with my team of different women from different ages and backgrounds. I think that makes a huge impact on the performance of the product.”
