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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | March 16, 1966 |
| Founder(s) | Paul Van Doren |
| Headquarters | Cypress, California, United States |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Industry | Apparel |
| Products | Clothing Footwear Accessories |
| Parent | VF Outdoor Inc. |
Vans is an American based manufacturer of sneakers, BMX shoes, snowboarding boots, and other shoe types catering primarily to the skateboarder/surfer/snowboarder youth market. They also sell apparel and accessories also catering to this same youth market.
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History
Vans began in 1966 as the Van Doren Rubber Company producing shoes for different sports such as basketball, baseball, and wrestling. These products did not sell very well, and in 1983, Vans was forced to file for bankruptcy. Three years later, Vans paid back all creditors and came out of bankruptcy, in part because, according to the company history, "Vans Slip-Ons gained international attention and appeal when they were worn by Sean Penn in the 1982, iconic youth film Fast Times at Ridgemont High.[1] "Penn's black and white checkered Vans ... [took the company] from like ... $20 million to ... $800 million ... after that film came out," Marketplace reported in 2009.[2]
In 1994, Vans began manufacturing overseas and sponsored the Inaugural Triple Crown series which developed into the Vans Triple Crown series. In 1998, Vans opened a 46,000 square-foot, indoor-outdoor Vans Skate park at the Block in Orange County and in 2002 an enclosed skatepark was opened in the Festival Bay Mall on International Drive in Orlando, Florida. In 2000 and 2001, Forbes recognized Vans as one of “America’s Best Small Companies." In 2004, Vans launched the Vans Customs on their website. This allowed customers to log onto the Vans website and design their own pair of Vans Slip-ons, mid-cuts, or high-tops.
Vans has been the primary sponsor of the Warped Tour music festival since 1995.
Criticism
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (June 2009) |
According to the Anti Defamation League (ADL): An e-mail rumor long circulated on the Internet suggests that the maker of Vans skateboarding shoes is anti-Semitic because some of their shoes come with a pattern resembling a Star of David on a portion of their outsole (bottom). However, the ADL has concluded that there is no truth to any of these allegations.
While the ADL understands that the use of the Star of David pattern in this context may be offensive to some, there is no factual basis to believe that the maker of Vans shoes incorporated the six-pointed star design in an attempt to insult Jewish people. Over the years the company has sought to reassure inquirers that the trademarked pattern is just that—a pattern—with no intended anti-Semitic message.
After contacting the company in the 1990s when the rumor began spreading, ADL was reassured by the chief executive office of Vans that the interlinking six-pointed star pattern on their shoes dated from the founding of the company and "was not done with even any awareness that it was the Star of David." [3]
The League accepts the company's explanation that the design is in fact just a design.
International Stores
Vans currently operates retail stores in Carnaby Street and White City in London as well as Leeds in the UK, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Antwerp, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris and Tartu Estonia.
There are outlet stores in Cheshire Oaks, Bridgend, Portsmouth, Banbridge, La Vallée Village, La Roca Village, Las Rozas Village, Roermond, Parndorf and Gold Coast, Australia.
References
- ^ History of Vans from 1966 through to now - Vans
- ^ "How Vans got off on the right foot" Interview by Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal with Doug Palladini, the company's VP of marketing, June 15, 2009. Retrieved 6/15/09.
- ^ http://www.adl.org/Internet_Rumors/Vans_Shoes.htm
External links
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