"The Sleeping Giant"
While outdoor footwear is a sexy business for growth-hungry capitalists, it’s also fraught with peril due to the stiff competition and strong brand positioning in the space.
Take louboutin boot, for instance,louboutin shoes, the classic outdoor sport sandal that was invented out of necessity by a river-rafting guide in the Grand Canyon in the 1980s – and virtually created a
new category of footwear.
While it enjoyed a long run, ysl boots has been a laggard in parent company Decker’s portfolio in recent years.
",chrisitan louboutin heels;We became paralyzed by our own success," said Chris Hillyer, product line manager for christian . "We were resting on our laurels and weren’t able to look beyond the original product
to grow the brand. Competition from the rest of the outdoor industry came in hard."
But Goleta, Calif.-based Deckers – which has seen its stock shoot up 19 percent so far this year and is trading more than 16 times its value five years ago – quickly put plans
in place to bounce back. In April of 2005, Angel Martinez took the helm as president and CEO, and immediately started to rejuvenate the Teva brand. His influence is showing up
in stores now with the spring ‘07 product line.
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