Word: sneaker
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...consisted of six folks back then, stitching 30 pairs of running shoes a day in the back of a store. Two of those workers are still with him, he points out, even as New Balance has long since hit the big leagues. In the U.S. sneaker wars, the company took the bronze in 2003 with 11% of the market, just behind Reebok (and miles behind Nike in first). Perhaps more impressive, while Nike and Reebok shower millions of dollars on superstars like LeBron James and Yao Ming, New Balance has soared to near the top of the sneaker charts--dusting...
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...
...Nike in a television ad. Gu learned more on Nike's Internet page and persuaded overseas friends to send him music. Now they send something else too: limited-edition Nikes unavailable in China. Gu and his partner sell them in their shop, Upward, to Beijing's several hundred "sneaker friends" and wear them while spinning tunes in Beijing's top clubs. To them, scoring rare soles and playing banned music are part of the same rebellious experience. "Because of the government, Chinese aren't allowed access to a lot of these things," says Gu's partner, Ji Ming, "but 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...
...million dollars lighter for his legal fight--plus the $4 million "I'm sorry" ring for his wife--and toxic as a marketing personality. His contracts with McDonald's and Sprite are finished. He still has a $45 million deal with Nike, but don't expect a Kobe sneaker anytime soon. He'll have to make do with a $136 million, seven-year contract he signed with the Lakers in July...