A Short Review of the Legendary Vans Authentic Trainers Company
The originator of the Van business was Paul Van Doren. He was born in 1930 and was raised in and around the Boston region. Paul’s first job was arranged basically by his mother who, despairing over his lack of scholarly instincts, found him work at the shoe plant where she was working. This is where Paul first learned about shoes, serving, as it were, his apprenticeship.. Paul and the shoe industry got on well together and by way of hard work came to be Executive Vice President of Boston shoe firm Randy’s. Paul decided to go into the shoe industry for himself with three partners who formed the Van Doren Rubber Company, setting-up the factory in California in 1966. Paul was a good businessman and immediately saw the difference between the profit margins of factory and shop, 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 time of maturation for the business partly due to the introduction of new product lines including rubber mukluks (for the US Government) and wool lined canvas shoes.Vans were a big hit with skateboarders, who highly valued the stability of the shoe and cherished the sole’s slightly sticky nature, which provides grip. Vans were very popular in California throughout this period.
Nineteen seventy five saw the introduction of the Vans Era. Skateboarders really liked this product, enjoying the large number of appealing colours, the cushioned collar. The ubiquitous Vans Slip-on was introduced in 1979. It was in fact amazingly desired by skateboarders and BMX bike riders. The constant launching of massively successful new products delivered the company much success and subsequently the business boasted as many as seventy retail stores in California at the end of the 1970s. Vans also gained national and international dealers.
The 1980s can now be seens as something of a time of great change and upheaval for the company. To compete with the larger and more well know competitors and brands the company kept-up the pace of bringing new products to market as well as move into new markets, markets which had a demand for rugged sports shoes. Such markets included moto-cross and surfing. One particular example is the Vans Slip-on, which became widely popular in the US and, most importantly, internationally, opening-up many new customers for the company.
This period witnessed the original founder, Paul Van Doren, taking a step-back from total involvement in the daily running of the business.
Ceaseless growth and expansion caused financial problems. The situation came to a head and Vans 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 business went on to be sold several times.
Vans came out of the 80s stronger, which led to success in the 1990s. Strategically things changed. The company moved manufacturing out of the USA, which unfortunately meant that the company’s manufacturing history in California came to an end as the plant there was closed. Continuing to move forward the company started to get behind and sponsor national events such as the ‘Inaugural Triple Crown’ series which eventually became the ‘Vans Triple Crown’ series, and the ‘Warped Tour’ music festival. The company opened skate parks: initially in 1998 in Orange County and the second in 2002 in Orlando. Vans also started obtaining naming rights e.g. to ‘BOWL-A-RAMA Bondi’, Australia.
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