5. INVENTORIES

At December 31, 2017 and 2016, inventories consisted of:


	2017			2016
	(Dollars in thousands)
Finished shoes	$	78,772		$	88,277
LIFO reserve		(18,502	)		(18,379	)
Total inventories	$	60,270		$	69,898

Finished shoes included inventory in-transit of $17.3 million and $16.4 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. At December 31, 2017, approximately 86% of the Company’s inventories were valued by the LIFO method of accounting while approximately 14% were valued by the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method of accounting. At December 31, 2016, approximately 89% of the Company’s inventories were valued by the LIFO method of accounting while approximately 11% were valued by the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method of accounting.

During 2017, there were liquidations of LIFO inventory quantities carried at lower costs prevailing in prior years compared to the cost of fiscal 2014 purchases. The effect of the liquidation decreased cost of sales by $301,000 in 2017. During 2016, there were liquidations of LIFO inventory quantities which resulted in immaterial decreases in cost of sales. During 2015, there were no liquidations of LIFO inventory quantities carried at lower costs prevailing in prior years compared to the cost of fiscal 2015 purchases.