A Short Article about the Iconic Vans Authentic Trainers Company
The founder of the Van business was Paul Van Doren. Paul was born in 1930 and raised in and around the Boston region. His first job was at the shoe factory where his mother worked, where he helped making shoes. Paul did well in the long run becoming Vice President of Randy’s, a distinguished shoe business in Boston.. Paul decided to go directly into the shoe business for himself with three partners and formed the Van Doren Rubber Company, setting-up the factory in California in 1966. He noted the lack of profit margin for the manufacturer but also saw the huge profits made by the retailer, so he opened a retail outlet . It went well with the company selling a respectable 12 pairs of shoes on their first day of trading which was March 16th 1966 - the shoes sold were the famous Vans decks (these later became known as Authentic).
The 1970s was to see a period of financial growth for the business maily because of new designs being developed and introduced to the market including rubber mukluks (for the US Government) and wool lined canvas shoes.Vans were a big hit with skateboarders, who enjoyed the hardness of the sneakers and enjoyed the sticky sole. Vans were very popular in California throughout this period.
Nineteen seventy five saw the introduction of the Vans Era. The Era featured a padded collar and a range of color combinations and quickly became the shoe of choice for a whole generation of skateboarders. The ubiquitous Vans Slip-on was introduced in 1979. It was incredibly popular with skateboarders and BMX bike riders. This ongoing launching of exceptionally successful shoes brought the company a ton of success and consequently the business had in the region of seventy outlets in California towards the end of the 1970s. Around this period Vans went first national and then international, opening retail outlets and working with distributors..
Many changes came to Vans during the decade of the 80s.. The constant product development continued. In an attempt to compete with the really large companies in the market Vans developed shoes for markets outside of the skateboarding and BMX worlds and looked at surfing, wake-boardings and motor cross. Vans Slip-ons became incredibly popular, gaining sales all over the world.
This period also saw the original founder, Paul Van Doren, taking a step-back from total involvement in the daily running of the business.
Never ending growth and expansion brought about financial problems. The situation came to a head when the company declared bankruptcy in 1983. It took Vans three years to get back on its feet, though it did pay-off its creditors. The original founders sold the business to an investment firm: the company went on to be sold more than once.
Vans came out of the 80s stronger, which led to success in the 1990s. Strategically things changed. The company took product manufacturing offshore, necessitating a closure of their California manufacturing plant. Advancing the company began sponsoring national events like the ‘Inaugural Triple Crown’ series which ended-up changing its title to the ‘Vans Triple Crown’ series, and the ‘Warped Tour’ music festival. The company opened skate parks: the first in 1998 in Orange County along with the second in 2002 in Orlando. Naming rights are also important and Vans has, for example, the naming rights to Australia’s internationally famous Bowl-a-Rama location.
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