Word: shoes
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Davis is at a critical juncture. Lately New Balance has lost share at the high end of its core runners' market to rivals like Brooks, while Adidas, Nike and Puma have been battering the brand in the more fashionable arena. New Balance is still mainly known for its running shoes and for having a lineup in multiple widths, and Davis may have missed a key opening with young shoppers a few years ago when New Balance had a hit with a hot trail-running shoe. Instead of following up, he kept other shoe designs relatively conservative compared with stylish models...
Perhaps the riskiest bet he's making, however, is on domestic manufacturing. New Balance is the only major U.S. sneaker brand still manufacturing in America; most others have fled to China, Indonesia and Vietnam. Roughly 25% of New Balance shoes are assembled at five factories in New England and one in California owned by a foreign supplier. Over the past two years Davis has spent $14 million to upgrade a high-tech shoe plant down the road from his Boston office, and in 2001 he expanded his distribution center in the old mill town of Lawrence, Mass. Davis figures...
...companies to keep manufacturing jobs at home amount to chump change given that gap. Overall, the U.S. footwear industry has shed nearly 200,000 jobs since the early 1970s, leaving fewer than 21,000. More to the point: What teenager clamoring for Air Jordans really cares where the shoe is stitched...
...teams in the mid-1990s, its ill-fitting cleats caused heel sores so painful that Nike had to let its athletes wear Adidas (with black tape over the trademark). In 1997, Nike ramped up production just before the Asian banking crisis killed demand, then flooded the market with cheap shoes, undercutting its own retailers and driving many into the arms of Adidas. Two years later, the company created a $15 Swoosh-bearing canvas sneaker designed for poor Chinese. The "World Shoe" flopped so badly that Nike killed...
Music Network Sonos finds the music stored on all the computers in your house and transmits it wirelessly to shoe-box-size ZonePlayers placed next to stereos or sound systems. Hand controllers can be used throughout the house for full mood control. $1,200 for starter...