Vans skate shoes are the very first ones to ever be created or sold. They have been around for over 40 years, but have seen many ups and downs. Let's take a quick look at the history of this famous skate shoe company.
It was March in the year 1966, and the original Vans shoes were
produced in a tiny mom-and-pop store in Anaheim, California called The
Van Doren Rubber
Company. That day, Paul Van Doren and three acquaintances
sold 12 pairs of what are now called the Authentics today.
The sneakers were ordered by the customer, produced, and sold all in the
same day. This was just the start of the famous Vans Footwear company
and nobody ever thought their popularity to surge so quickly.
By
the next decade, Vans was creating more than just
skateboard footwear, and started reaching out into the bike market.
During the 1970s, Vans Footwear added a couple of other sneakers to
their list, including shoes called the #95s and #44s. Today they are
recognized as the Eras and Slip-ons. The Era sneakers proved to be a big
success thanks to the help of pro skaters Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta
who helped design them. As the decade came to a close, Vans opened up
70 shops in California and became a household name.
Since they
did so well in the 1970s, the owners of Vans decided to reach out to
wakeboarding and motocross sports with their sneakers and apparel.
However, things did not fare so well for them. They ended up having to
file for bankruptcy after wasting so much money on so many new products
that weren't selling as fast as they had anticipated.
Even
though things look bad for a while, Vans came back a few years later
after successfully getting out of debt with their creditors. Vans Footwear traded hands and got sold a number of times over the next 20
years. The most recent buy-out was from co-founder
Paul Van Doren's son, Steve Van Doren, for an estimated $396 million.
These days,
Vans is still recognized by several people--regardless of if they skateboard or not--to be
among the most affordable, durable and comfortable skate shoes available. Vans definitely had some bad years, but they
have shown over and over that they are a force that shouldn't be reckoned with, and they are here to stay.
