Brand Health Check:Shellys - What can Shellys do to get its old shine back?

Nevertheless, many market analysts agree that the Shellys brand has potential.

Its early success was based on selling other companies' shoes.

Accordingly, one analyst has attributed its recent troubles to the fact that it has moved away from its niche of practical but trendy footwear into fancier styles such as own-brand ladies' evening shoes.

Last April, Shellys was bought by Stylo, owner of such shoe retailers as the cheaper, mass-market Barratts.

Earlier this month, Stylo issued a profit warning and blamed its sales decline on poor Christmas trading and difficulties getting rid of a surplus of Shellys shoes.

A mountain of old stock is a far cry from Shellys' heyday. The company, founded in 1946, quickly established itself at the forefront of fashionable footwear.

It built a strong reputation for selling cutting-edge and popular designs.

In the 80s and 90s, for example, Shellys was the main retailer of the then-ubiquitous Dr Martens.

But more recently it has lacked such distinction and fallen victim to newer, funkier shoe retailers such as Office and Faith, which have generated greater appeal among young shoe buyers.

Shellys has not had an advertising agency since 1996, when it used Mustoe Merriman Herring Levy. Since then, apart from its 11 stores dotted around the UK, the brand has had little exposure.

So what should Stylo do with the Shellys brand? We asked former MTV Europe marketing director Sanjay Nazerali, who is now director of branding agency Depot, which has worked on retail and shoe brands such as Kickers; and David Dalziel, the founder and creative director of retail design agency Dalziel & Pow.

DIAGNOSIS

Sanjay Nazerali

In Shellys' heyday, it was unimaginable that a shoe brand could be the defining icon of a glamorous TV series, as Jimmy Choo now is to Sex and the City. It was equally unimaginable that a low-price retailer could get catwalk looks into stores before designers - but Zara manages it.

It may sound like a truism, but we buy differently these days. We buy brands, not monkey boots or winkle-pickers. We buy Patrick Cox and Puma.

And we're happy to buy them from fashion brands, rather than footwear specialists.These fashion brands aren't the preserve of the rich and famous, unlike their historical counterparts. They're on the high street, in outlets as accessible and competitively priced as Sole Trader. We buy retail experiences: the in-store DJs, the couches and the dressing rooms fit for supermodels.

And what's worse for Shellys is that we want all of this regardless of our budget. The idea that expensive is special while cheap is tatty has been massacred by the likes of Top Shop and Zara. Even when we want cheap, we want it stylish and we want it special.

DAVID DALZIEL

Selling footwear is an exceptionally tough business. And selling fashion footwear is the toughest position in the market.

Shellys has built its reputation on being the destination store for the most aggressive, popular style of the time.

But in a season where there are no clear winners and losers in terms of fashion direction, and a retailer is at a loss to predict the styles, it can be left with no clear attitude, no bestsellers and no direction.

Today's successful footwear brands focus on individual taste. So the winners are the brands with personality - Camper, Oliver Sweeney, Puma - and the retailers with the ability to adapt to changing attitudes, such as Office or the independents.

Shellys has stock problems (too much old stock), which can be solved.

However, its stores are desperate, and I'm not sure that can be sorted out as easily. Stylo bought the goodwill of the brand, but it also took on the dilapidated estate and that could be the big issue going forward. It could also prove expensive.

TREATMENT

- Decide why Shellys exists. It's a fragmented market. Understand the battleground and find a unique and compelling reason to be there.

- Do what brands such as Kickers have done and use historical goodwill as a platform for development - but beware of nostalgia.

- Make it an experience, not a shoe shop. Regardless of the prices, we still love Zara and Top Shop.

- Invest in the store environment to make sure the customer can see the offer.

- Clear redundant stock at cost with a low-profile temporary store.

- Keep it funky and don't sanitise the brand.

- Work the PR opportunities hard to reinforce the credentials.

- Never let the public link Barratts with Shellys. It would be death for the Shellys brand.