Re: if i owned the company...
Not only do we have good taste in shoes, but we're smart, too...! It's great how this discussion has sparked some interest.
From a purely personal standpoint, I want Keds to go back to how they looked and felt ca 1990 (others would go further back) - but in general, I would just like to see the brand do well. Personally I'm not a knockoffs fan, but that is again purely personal.
I don't have business or technical know-how, but I do know aesthetics and I know what people are wearing these days. I live in a city that is widely assumed to be cool and what happens is, people base what they wear on what other people wear. Either they wear what other people wear, or they wear the exact opposite. And in the case of Converse (which I actually love, tho not like me Keds) they can be doing both at once. I don't see many Keds, but I see just enough to give me hope.
I had an idea that Keds could come and set up on one of my city's hipper drags - and could run a shoe exchange: basically, people could come up and exchange whatever shoes they were wearing for a free new pair of Keds. The only rule would be that you had to pose for a picture and then walk away in the Keds. (I would love to be hanging around that day...)
It's a loss-leader type idea - yes - but what it would do, is it would get people wearing Keds around other people, and that could do a lot. If they did this during one of our periodic festivals it would be even better.
I just sense that like someone else said, Payless is going to kill the brand. I remember that people used to wear Airwalk shoes when I was a kid - they were popular amongst us skaters - but now Payless sells them and who would want to buy them? I worry that Keds are headed for Payless and it won't be pretty.
Not only do we have good taste in shoes, but we're smart, too...! It's great how this discussion has sparked some interest.
From a purely personal standpoint, I want Keds to go back to how they looked and felt ca 1990 (others would go further back) - but in general, I would just like to see the brand do well. Personally I'm not a knockoffs fan, but that is again purely personal.
I don't have business or technical know-how, but I do know aesthetics and I know what people are wearing these days. I live in a city that is widely assumed to be cool and what happens is, people base what they wear on what other people wear. Either they wear what other people wear, or they wear the exact opposite. And in the case of Converse (which I actually love, tho not like me Keds) they can be doing both at once. I don't see many Keds, but I see just enough to give me hope.
I had an idea that Keds could come and set up on one of my city's hipper drags - and could run a shoe exchange: basically, people could come up and exchange whatever shoes they were wearing for a free new pair of Keds. The only rule would be that you had to pose for a picture and then walk away in the Keds. (I would love to be hanging around that day...)
It's a loss-leader type idea - yes - but what it would do, is it would get people wearing Keds around other people, and that could do a lot. If they did this during one of our periodic festivals it would be even better.
I just sense that like someone else said, Payless is going to kill the brand. I remember that people used to wear Airwalk shoes when I was a kid - they were popular amongst us skaters - but now Payless sells them and who would want to buy them? I worry that Keds are headed for Payless and it won't be pretty.