In all, seven shoe companies have recently made or announced plans to move their headquarters within the region, tying up more than 800,000 square feet of new or existing spaces in the process.

Some of the names, and their real estate activities, are well known in the area, such as New Balance’s recent move into its new 250,000-square-foot world headquarters in Brighton and Converse’s long-anticipated jump from North Andover into 200,000 square feet in the completely rehabbed Lovejoy Wharf building in Boston’s North Station area.

Earlier this month, the Rockport Group – which was sold by Adidas Group in August to a unit of New Balance and Berkshire Partners LLC of Boston – also announced it was relocating from its long-time home in Canton to 70,000 square feet of space at 1210-1220 Washington St. in Newton.

Those moves alone are raising the eyebrows of many people within the real estate community, but they’re not the only recent real estate activities involving local footwear companies. Four other, somewhat lesser-known, firms are also striding into new digs in the area’s suburbs:

• Earth Inc., a women’s footwear firm, has leased 20,804 square feet of space at Centerpoint in Waltham, leaving 135 Second Ave. in Waltham.
• Clarks Americas Inc. earlier this year announced plans to lease 120,000 square feet at the former Polaroid building at 1265 Main St. in Waltham, leaving its long-time Newton Upper Falls location.
• Wolverine Worldwide, maker of the Sperry Top-Sider, Saucony, Keds and Stride Rite footwear brands, has announced that next year it plans to leave Lexington for 150,000 square feet at a new facility being built by Boston Properties at 10 CityPoint in Waltham.
• PlanetShoes, which has previously shared space with Earth Inc. at 135 Second Ave. in Waltham, announced earlier this month that it’s moved into 4,500 square feet of space at 57 Chapel St. in Newton.

The square footage absorbed by the seven firms doesn’t include New Balance’s purchase last spring of a former mill building in Lawrence. The 220,000-square-foot structure is located next to its current manufacturing facility in Lawrence, where New Balance currently employs about 750 people. New Balance has yet to say what it plans to do with its new Merrimack Street property.

When New Balance’s Lawrence mill purchase is included in the mix, footwear companies have either leased, built or purchased more than 1 million square feet of space in the Boston area in recent years.

Economic Recovery Benefits Industry

So it raises the question: Why are footwear companies suddenly making so many moves of late?

Real estate experts believe the answers are simple: The economy is improving, consumers are spending, companies are expanding, and footwear companies, like other firms, are responding to those market forces.

“I think the timing is just a coincidence,” said Virginia Kerrigan, an associate at Avison Young, which represented Earth Inc. and PlanetShoes in their recent transactions.

But it’s intriguing that the apparel and shoe sector, so associated with the region’s economic past, is still making such an impact on the area, though the vast majority of jobs today are no longer in manufacturing.

“We were having a sales meeting the other day and we were talking about this very subject,” said Kerrigan of the recent real estate activities by footwear firms. “It’s kind of fun to think about.”

For the companies, it’s all just a matter of business.

In a statement, Wolverwine Worldwide, whose U.S. headquarters are based in Rockford, Michigan, said it simply needed to shake up its operations in Massachusetts.

“The move to 10 CityPoint in Waltham gave Wolverine an opportunity to develop a highly efficient office environment that could support the specific needs associated with footwear/apparel design, marketing and associated services,” the company said. “It also provided an opportunity for phased growth throughout the term of the lease, an opportunity that was missing at the existing facility in Lexington.”

But for every square foot of new space absorbed by footwear companies, they’re leaving behind space at their old facilities.

In North Andover, RCG LLC, owner of Converse’s old headquarters at 50 High St., decided to use the recent departures of its two main tenants – Converse and Schneider Electric, which moved to Andover in 2014 – to reposition its 300,000-square-foot property.

The final result: A mixed-use redevelopment that includes offices, apartments and small restaurants. About 17 apartments are now under construction, with at least another 24 apartments planned for the future.

“It’s a complete conversion of old mill space,” said David Steinbergh, a principal at RCG, based in Somerville.

Email: jayfitzmedia@gmail.com