Vans Shoes History

Vans Off the Wall Vans Inc. is a prosperous company, which manufactures shoes and apparel. The company was formerly known as Van Doren Rubber Company, Inc. and changed its name to Vans, Inc. in 1991. Since the beginning, Vans Inc. has strived for popularity in snowboarding shoes and skateboarding sneakers to try to keep up with the fast growing and extreme sport cultures. Paul Van Doren started the company in the United States in March 1966. The company began to manufacture shoes in the first Vans retail store located in Anaheim, CA.

With such a prosperous beginning in history, the shoes that continue to be manufactured could be defined as one of the leading shoes for the skateboarding industries. The reputation of the shoe itself has lead the skating industry in a revolutionary and unexpected way since 1966 up until this year with much future to come. The shoes have its unique style with its signature waffle sole that has made an impact with the youth. Differently from its current competitors in the skating industry, vans shoes have a unique sense of style by using canvas material, making the shoes more durable than the competition.

Along with the use of canvas material, comes the options of variable designs and colors to fulfill the need of the young customers. The shoes come in a variable combination of color hues and stitching designs. For more than 46 years Vans footwear has been at the heart of skateboarding from the classic Vans canvas shoes to their technical skate shoes. Vans define individual style that is an excellent match for skateboarders around the world who practice the sport. Being a productive business, Vans Inc. has a broad market around all the states in the U. S and more around 50 countries around the world.

The Business Week website briefly describes the company’s target market by stating, “Vans, Inc. operates as a branded lifestyle company for the youth market. It reaches its 10 to 24 year-old target consumers through the sponsorship of core sports, such as skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, and wakeboarding, as well as through major entertainment events and venues, such as the VANS Triple Crown Series, VANS Warped Tour, VANS World Amateur Skateboarding Championships, and VANS High Cascade Snowboard Camp, located on Mt. Hood. ” BusinessWeek describes how the company uses different types of edia to reach the youth community.

The company has gained a lot of popularity with their shoes and gaining it not only among skaters, but also among all the teenagers. Many of their customers are appealed by the shoes because of the designs rather than its use. Vans Inc. , according to Hoovers. com who have researched the company, say the biggest competitors are Nike, Converse and Adidas. Vans Inc sponsors well known events that involve extreme sports such as competitions, skateboard parks, and music events to invite them to push the brand’s “ Vans Off The Wall” slogan. Following the look that Vans Inc. s trying to achieve, many consumers would believe that the business would only be focused towards men. Contrary to this idea, the Funding Universe website talks about the focus Vans Inc. has now placed on female products. Funding universe reports that the company also responded by introducing a complete line of women’s outdoor shoes. Making these types of changes made the company also gain popularity and increased the target market. With such changes, young mothers with their kids would purchase their shoes at the same time as they would purchase the shoes of their kids.

With the extend of the market now including men, women, boys and girls, the company has a step ahead of the competition by allowing to have a more extended selection for all the family.

Works Cited

• Burritt, Chrus, and Lauren Coleman. “VF’s Vans Unit to Add Athletic Shoes to Challenge Nike. “Bloomberg Businessweek. N. p. , 14 June 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2012. .
• “Vans, Inc. Competition. ” Vans, Inc. Names of Competitors. Hoovers, 02 May 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2012. .
• “VANS INC (VANS) SPO. ” NASDAQ. com. NasDaq, 20 Nov. 2009. Web. 09 Nov. 2012. .