Word: ponts
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...declined the opportunity to testify, but a surprisingly large number of multinational officials were eager to contribute their thoughts−and not just their hostile ones. Irving S. Shapiro, vice chairman of Du Pont, suggested that the panel should consider sponsoring a U.N.-wide agreement on international investment. Under such a plan, he said, investment funds might be governed in much the same way that the independently organized General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) lays out rules for the movement of goods between nations. Emilio G. Collado, executive vice president of Exxon Corp., favored the notion of a proposed...
...years ago, synthetic leather seemed likely to appear in business histories only as an example of a rare product-development blunder by Du Pont. Corfam, its much touted leather lookalike, brought out in 1964, was expected to do for shoes what nylon had done for stockings. But demand never rose as much as Du Pont had hoped, partly because consumers complained that Corfam shoes pinched and roasted their feet. By 1971 Du Pont admitted defeat and wrote off the effort as a $100 million bust. Now it appears that Du Pont's real mistake was giving up too soon...
Corfam's trade name now belongs to George Newman & Co., of Boston (estimated 1972 sales: $12 million), a wholesaler of the product in the Du Pont days, which bought a license to use the name and unsold inventory for $6,000,000. President George Newman, 33, reports that he has sold most of the huge stock of Corfam "poromeric" (from porous) leather that he bought from Du Pont and began producing NewmanCorfam in his firm's own factory last January. Though Newman has experienced some technical problems, the young Corfam owner claims that he expects to sell...
...long-predicted leather shortage that sparked Du Pont's interest in a leather substitute has finally arrived. Worldwide demand for leather is rising faster than the supply of hides. As a result, prices on some grades of hides have leaped as much as 110%. At the same time, worldwide demand for leather is escalating as living standards rise. "Peasants in Africa now buy new shoes every two years instead of every four," Newman says. "People in Eastern Europe want bright, colorful leather shoes and jackets." Footwear-industry analysts expect leather to drop from...
...Pont officials profess to be undisturbed by the success of their castoff, claiming they did well to dump an expensive failure. Of course, they might feel otherwise if the Corfam shoe were still on their foot...