Toms to give away 300,000 pairs of shoes this year
07/05/2009
The founder of casual footwear brand Toms, Blake Mycoskie, has revealed that got the idea for the company's espadrille-style designs during a holiday in Argentina in 2006.
Also on that trip, serial-entrepreneur Mr Mycoskie developed the brand's unique selling point after a chance meeting with some aid workers in a bar. His new acquaintances said they had travelled to Argentina to distribute shoes to the needy. Blake Mycoskie decided that if Toms was going to take its design concept from Argentina, it should give something back, so he determined that for each pair of Toms he sold, he would donate a pair to charities like the one his companions worked for.
He said recently that he has already given away 140,000 pairs of shoes in the US, Argentina, Ethiopia and South Africa. This year, he expects to donate 300,000 pairs of shoes, bring in $13 million in sales and work toward his goal of eradicating podoconiosis in Ethiopia, a deforming foot disease caused by walking barefoot in silica-rich soil.
Toms shoes feature colorful designs, with collections for men, women and children. They're sold at more than 500 stores worldwide, with prices starting at $44.
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