Some folks wear their patriotism on their sleeves. This July 4th holiday weekend, your kids will be able to wear it on their feet.
That's when a new, flag-waving brand — United Shoes of America — launches what it claims is the only children's sneaker brand made in the USA entirely from U.S.-sourced materials and components.
Sure, you can buy made-in-America kids' shoes, but this is the first kids' sneakers' line where everything is produced domestically. That's saying a lot in a nation pretty much accustomed to seeing most of its sneakers made in China or elsewhere in Asia.
"We wanted to create a story that no one else can tell," says Art Rogers, general manager and co-partner at Danvers, Mass.-based ShoeString Shoes, the company that makes the new brand. "Every one of our shoes says on the back and on the bottom: 'Made in the USA.'"
Made in America is a growing drumbeat that brands big and small can no longer ignore. It's no accident that floor mat maker WeatherTech even broadcast its made-in-America message on a Super Bowl commercial earlier this year. A recent Boston Consulting Group survey showed the average American is willing to pay up to 60% more for made-in-America products.
"More manufacturers are seeing the research that shows that consumers care," says Alex Bogusky, an adviser to and investor in MadeMovement, a marketing agency focused on supporting American manufacturing. "It's not the goal for everything to be made domestically, just to reach a balance that's healthy for jobs and our economy."
For Rogers, 52, a former senior sales executive at sneaker maker Converse and Saucony, it's also a way to get his brand to stand out in Sneaker Land.
Launching July 4th, he says, is a "symbolic" way to introduce the new line.
But he's the first to admit that it hasn't been simple. Among other things it costs more — often a lot more — to make products in the USA.
For example, so-called hook-and-loop straps made outside the U.S. can cost three times more when they're purchased inside the U.S., says Rogers. Even then, the company went with the U.S.-made Velcro-brand straps, he says.
Beyond the straps, every part of the shoes — laces, soles, the canvass, even the boxes — is made in the U.S. They're assembled in Ballwin, Miss., and the materials used to make them come from New England, New Jersey, Georgia, Illinois and Indiana, he says.
The boxes, which have an American flag insignia, cost almost twice as much as similar boxes made overseas, Rogers says. But the company decided that the made-in-America shoes just couldn't be sold in imported boxes.
"Every time I look at the price difference, I still cringe," he concedes.
But the company's goal is to charge only about 15% more than rivals who make their sneakers overseas, Rogers says. Its toddler-sized canvas sneakers sell for up to $39.99 and its youth-sized sneakers (for kids 5 to 12) fetch up to $49.99.
The shoes will mostly be sold at kids' shoe boutiques, but later this summer will be available on Nordstrom.com. The shoes also are sold on Shoebuy.com.
Rogers says he's targeting "enlightened" moms 25 to 35, who buy shoes for their kids.
ShoeString also makes Zooligans, canvas shoes with animal imagery on them, which are not made in America.
By the Christmas holidays, Rogers hopes to be selling suede kids' shoes made in America. And by next year, get ready for a line of patriotic plastic kids' sandals — also made in America.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1lEAcko
No comments:
Post a Comment