"DSW Inc. - Designer Shoe Warehouse - wouldn't Imelda Marcos like this store! So would Peter Lynch."

Dow Jones Industrial Average 12,596 (Down) Week ending 05-13-2011 

I talk to my friend Paul in the morning about stocks. He mentioned that he always see people in this store buying stuff no matter what was going on with the economy or gas prices. DSW Inc. - Designer Shoe Warehouse (Symbol DSW, $45.00) is one of those stocks Peter Lynch would have looked around and put it in his portfolio at  Fidelity Magellan. DSW is projecting 2012 earnings of $2.70 per share and 2013 earnings of $3.16 per share. 

To some folks, SHOES, are a Religion.  Imelda Marcos the prolific collector of shoes actually has a museum with mostly her shoes in it in the Philippines. Imelda showing them on the tour to the right here. She is Very proud.

On the show "Sex in the City" based in New York City poor Carrie Bradshaw is actually robbed of her most favorite shoes on one episode, her prize possession and most valuable commodity.

People seem to find money in their budget for shoes no matter what happens. DSW is the place they go. It has a Return on Equity of 20.70% and a 1 year gain of 55.8 % and a three year gain of 204.7%. DSW has 311 stores in 39 states and an E-Commerce site and has plenty of room for expansion. DSW employees 10,500 people in the USA.   

Of course nothing is simple. "DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW), a leading branded footwear specialty retailer, and its largest shareholder, Retail Ventures, Inc. (NYSE: RVI), announced the two companies have signed a definitive merger agreement providing for RVI to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of DSW in a tax-free exchange of shares at an exchange ratio of 0.435 DSW shares per each RVI share."


"For accounting purposes, DSW will effectively retire the 27.4 million class B shares currently owned by RVI (approximately 62% of DSW's fully diluted shares outstanding). As a result of the merger, the separate corporate existence of RVI will cease and the surviving entity will continue as a wholly owned subsidiary of DSW. DSW estimates that it will have slightly fewer diluted shares outstanding as a result of this transaction."

So unless the world ends as predicted on May 21st, 2011 , I think you are good shape picking up some shares of DSW Inc.  I think people will keep buying shoes and handbags.

So what is the most expensive pair of shoes?   

What happens when Carrie Bradshaw circa 1995 meets the Grand Sultan of Land-'O-Money? This £140,000 shoe (around $228,452 US) encrusted with 30 carats worth of diamonds, made with solid gold, and a surprising lack of taste. "The aim of this was to create a unique form of jewellery which you can wear on your feet. It's a bit like if you found these on an archaeological dig in thousands of years time they would be regarded as a treasure—a treasure of the feet," said Christopher Michale Shellis, designer of said shoes.

Better dust off my docksiders, I think we are going dancing.

Have a good one,

Freewilly