K-Swiss: The Classic Story
Two brothers, Art and Earnest Brunner moved from Switzerland to California where they become avid tennis players
.
They founded the K Swiss shoe company to provide tennis players with stylish footwear designed to give them the moveability,
support and comfort to perform their best on court, without compromising the durability thereof.
The first leather tennis shoe, entirely white in color, K Swiss called "the Classic"was introduced to the world at the 1966 Wimbledon championship.
The brothers used only the best quality materials they could purchase, the leather came from Argentina's top tannaries, the shoelace "D-rings" were
imported from Germany and the
herringbome outersole came from Pirelli, Italy, for surely if Pirelli could manufacture vehicle tyres with enought traction, manufacturing a sneaker-sole would be a breeze.
They used a unique three piece design for the Classic' upper, one piece of leather for each side of the foot and the third being the tongue narrowing into the front sole,
the idea was to reduced seam-abrasion. The five side-strips housing the "shoelace D-rings", added to strengthen the shoe and house the D rings, resulted in a nice tight fit.
Bar the K Swiss logo imprinted unto the back of the sole, the shoe was void of any other markings.
K Swiss also offered to re-sole the shoes once the bottom had worn out. The Classic become a favorite not only amongst tennis players of the era but most people living
and touring the West Coast, like for instance during the 1970s the Japanese immigrants and tourist created a cult-like status for the Classic back in Japan.
Although the Classic is not used on court anymore, it is still a very in demand sneaker for all other occations. During the 1970s and early 1980s the K Swiss company
flourished without the need to run any advertising campaigns, as the shoe's reputation for excellance and performance, was promoted by the wearers themselves.
As the athletec industry trends changed, with the advertising and colorful gear companies like Adidas, Nike and Reebok introduced, K Swiss's sales dropped markedly.
In January 1987, Steven Nichols ex president of Stride Rite Corporation, having raised more than $116 million,
bought K Swiss from the Brunner brothers for a mere $20 million. Nichols, in keeping with the shoes' elite status, as the price of a pair of K-Swiss shoes were much higher
than any of it's contemporaries, chose to run his ads in athletic magazines, billboards and radio for selected cities. He expanded on this exclusivity-strategy by closing
all the accounts in Japan, with the exception of certain high-end stores. By the end of 1989 the company recorded sales in excess of $60 million for the US market, by 1990
the selling price for a pair of K-swiss shoes, in Japan was equivalant to USD100, establishing it as a "luxury" item.
Nichols, opened a 251,000 square foot distribution center in 1991, he in the same year also formed a partnership with C & J Clarks to distribute K-Swiss shoes to seleted department
store in Europe and the UK.
K-Swiss was granted the patent to both the Cushion Board sole construction and the D-R Cinch lacing system, in February 1992. The "Belais" and the "Belais-LT" was introduced
in 1993 and the company expanded into the basketball as well as the aerobics apparel markets. Moving from the indoor arena tp hiking and casual wear,
K-Swiss introduced twelve new shoes in 1994, and expanded their magazine-advertisment platform to include Backpacker and Outside.
The company's first television advertisment, targeting a much broader market segment than previously began in 1996,
resulting in sales of $116 million and stock trading at $28 per share by 1997. Although K-Swiss opened account with stores like
Nordstrom, Footlocker, Footaction and Dillards, the company still maintained its policy of not flooding the market.
In a 1999 interview with Sporting Goods Business, Nichols stated, Many of our shoes we introduce for a very short period of time and then at some future date we reintroduce it and we reintroduce it on allocation to make sure that nobody buys too many. When a retailer sells out virtually to the last pair, that's when we're the happiest.'
The $17-million ad campaing, called "Club K-Swiss" launched in 1998 resulted in sales of $162 million for that year. K-Swiss continued to expand worldwide
with sales in excess of $500 million by 2005.
K-Swiss: The Classic Story
By: Maggie Summer
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