Madden Girl does Toms style without giving back

Madden Girl; a division of Steve Madden, rolled out a new casual flats this spring

The fashion forward but priced to sell collection Madden Girl, a division of Steve Madden footwear, has created a new casual shoe silhouette that rivals that of Tom's and Bob's at a lower price point

Photo: Angela Johnson, Macy's Santa Ana

Madden Girl, unlike its predecessors, does not attempt to play the humanitarian card to sell their new casual flat. 

Tom's built their company on the standard of giving one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased, using environmentally sustainable or low impact materials, and creating special artist collections. Bob's built their sales plan around the same buy one give one strategy, but being they are a collection within the Sketchers portfolio only use this platform for the Bob's collection.  Madden Girl only has the style of their shoe, and the $40 price point to drive their sales.  Compare this to Toms at $54+ and Bob's at $34.95+

Photo: Angela Johnson, Macy's Santa Ana

Is it style or brand loyalty?

Not jumping on the name your shoe band wagon may have been a smart decision for Madden Girl.  Tom's first launched their brand as "Tom's, shoes for tomorrow" with "Tom's" being the abbreviation for the idea of having shoes on your feet in a new tomorrow.  Although this mantra has seen more down play as the brand has grown it defines the purpose of the name.  Which begs the question; what does "Bob's" stand for? 

Madden Girl is resting its bets on the style trend of this casual flat, creating labels so similar to Tom's that from afar or in most cases, above, they look like the real thing.

And the debate goes on:

As Madden Girl, Tom's, and Bob's, compete for market share the jury is still out on which brand will prevail.  Various blogs and news articles can be found on the web supporting one side or the other for Tom's or Bob's but the Madden Girl flat appears to be off the news media radar - check out what the customers are saying as we wait to see who wins.

Tom's vs Bob's - there is a difference
Sketchers rips off Toms shoes in the name of charity
Madden Girl