BACKGROUND INFORMATION

  • About 5 years ago, Crocs company president, Ron Snyder, would go sailing with his friends in the Caribbean. However, he never could find a shoe that was completely safe and efficient enough for boating. He then found a plastic boating shoe in Canada, similar to Crocs, and really liked it. It wasn’t perfect though. He decided then that he was going to start a shoe line of plastic shoes that would be ok if they got wet and would still have a great grip on the boats. That is how Snyder came up with the idea of Crocs. He is known as the maker of “the world’s ugliest shoe”, but what isn’t so ugly is the amount of money the company has grossed. In 2003, when the company started, it grossed a mere $1 million. In 3 years, the company made over $322 million and have now made close to $1 billion in sales. Ron Snyder bought the company from Canada which allowed him to use their materials and better make the shoe with the special Croslite material they created and allowed them to expand globally. International sales have driven their sales up over 200% in 1 year from 2006 to 2007. There sales are still up, however, their stock is doing horrible. The Crocs stock (CROX) reached its peak in 2007 at a high of 70.0 however, now in 2008, the stock has reached as low as 2.34.
  • Crocs are made up of a patented material called Croslite, which is a PCCR (Proprietary Close Cell Resin) which is composed of ethylene-vinyl acetate or EVA. The product is relatively not harmful. Ethylene is a gas, which is not harmful at all. According to Dr. Ballantine, a chemistry professor at NIU, the ethylene gas is emitted from fruits when they are ripening or spoiling and when combined with the vinyl acetate it is still harmless. Dr. Ballantine stated that however, vinyl acetate can be toxic only is misused in mass quantities. Because vinyl acetate has to be dissolved in an organic solvent to be made into a plastic form, it is possible, depending on what organic solvent is used and what precautions are taken, that overexposure can be toxic. Once in the final form, such as Crocs, there is no harm even if burned. Since Croslite is trademarked, we are not exactly sure what is in it therefore, we can only assume that the necessary precautions are taken in the factories making them. The factories are located in Romania, Canada, US, Mexico, Italy, and more than half are in China. EVA is used to make hoses, padding for sports equipment, alternatives to allergenic plastics, medical products, and even baby teethers. When in final form, the product is not at all harmful and is because it is “closed cell” it does not allow bacteria to form in it and easily cleanable.

  • Crocs is marketed by many organizations and companies.  One organization is the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) which is a volleyball tournament that is completely hosted and sponsored by Crocs.  Crocs also has a tour that they call the Next Step Tour.  This tour strictly goes to college campuses across the entire country promoting the Crocs product and encourages students to bring their worn out shoes to donate.  They give out giveaways and provide the entertainment all you have to do is show up.  Although many people don't see them very often, Crocs are also marketed by a few commercials, Don King also hosts one of these commercials.
  • Just for fun, check out this youtube video.