VANS DRIVING INTO UNCHARTED TERRITORY WITH NEW SKATE PARK
Published
March 2, 2000
CNNfn's Jan Hopkins reported on the CA-based shoe and
apparel company Vans and its 46,000-square-foot "skate
park," which is "the largest indoor skate park in the world
and the latest marketing tool and money maker from Vans."
The company is "selling a lifestyle, aimed squarely at a
younger crowd." Vans President & CEO Gary Schoenfeld: "We
think that kids want to own their own brands, they want
brands that market to them directly, that think about them
[as] part of their ... lifestyle. That's really what Vans
is about." Schoenfeld gave Vans a "rebirth" in '88, when
the venture capital firm he was working for paid $70M for
the company, which was then "grossing about" $40M a year.
Schoenfeld said the brand had "lost its meaning, although it
clearly had an identity. ... Let's take that identity and
let's really start thinking in terms of being a marketing
and product driven enterprise." Hopkins added the "new
ownership" of Vans "doubled its sales by 1991 and went
public that year." Schoenfeld closed Vans' U.S. factories,
"transforming" the company "from a domestic shoe maker, into
a global marketing company. ... Through event sponsorship
and marketing partnerships, Vans has broadened its appeal
into ... extreme sports like BMX racing, wakeboarding and
snowboarding. Since 1996, the company also has extended the
brand name into a profitable apparel." Hopkins said the
company's "young staff works closely with top skaters to
develop new products." Vans is now "profitable" and had
global sales of more than $200M in '99 (CNNfn, 3/1).
