Toms Shoes

TOMS Shoes is a for-profit footwear company that is based in Santa Monica, California, The company designs and sells lightweight shoes based on the Argentine alpargata design. With every pair sold, TOMS donates a new pair of shoes to a child in need.

Business Operations

While competing on the second season of The Amazing Race with his sister, Mycoskie visited Argentina. He returned there on vacation in January 2006 and had the idea to develop a shoe company where for every pair sold, a new pair would be donated to a child in need of shoes. Blake had once said of his revelation, "I was sitting on a farm pondering life, and it occurred to me, 'I'm going to start a shoe company, and for every pair that we sell, I'll give a pair to someone who needs them'." Mycoskie took to wearing the local alpargata shoes. After Mycoskie noticed the numerous children without shoes in the poorer villages, he returned to the United States and sold his online driver education company to self-finance the shoe company.

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A traditional alpargata style shoe.

Alpargata shoes have been worn by Argentina farmers for hundreds of years and were the inspiration for the classic style of TOMS. These canvas or cotton fabric shoes are now manufactured in many styles including a Wrap Boot, Stitchouts, Cordones, and Botas. The sole is constructed of rubber. TOMS offers several vegan styles as well. The company name is derived from the word "tomorrow", and evolved from the original concept, "Shoes for Tomorrow Project".

Manufacturing

According to the corporate website, TOMS currently manufactures in Argentina, China and Ethiopia.

"We require that the factories operate under sound labor conditions, pay fair wages and follow local labor standards. A code of conduct is signed by all factories. Our production staff routinely visits these factories to make sure they are maintaining these working standards. We also have third parties audit the factories at least once a year to ensure they adhere to proper labor regulations."

Philanthropy

Background

After his visit to Argentina in 2006, Mycoskie decided to get involved in shoe giving. Considering sustainability, he concluded that starting a business rather than a charity would help his impact last longer. In his speech at the Second Annual Clinton Global Initiative, Mycoskie recalled that children without shoes were not only susceptible to health risks, but were not allowed to go to school. When asked "why shoes?" Mycoskie's main reason is a disease called podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease. Also known as "Mossy Foot", Podoconiosis is a form of elephantiasis that affects the lymphatic system of the lower legs. It is a soil-transmitted disease caused by walking in silica-rich soil. This causes one's feet to swell along with many other health implications. Shoes are the most basic solution to many of these health risks. According to the TOMS Shoes website, there are over one billion people at risk for soil-transmitted diseases around the world, and shoes can help prevent them. Mycoskie emphasizes that his company's goal is to not only give shoes, but to also educate others on the importance of wearing shoes.

Social Entrepreneurship

For every pair of TOMS Shoes purchased, a pair of new shoes is given to a child in need. Over 1,000,000 pairs of shoes have been given to children under the One for One movement since TOMS launched in 2006. The canvas shoes have been given to children in more than 20 countries worldwide, including the United States (Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi and Florida), Argentina, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Guatemala, Haiti, and South Africa. TOMS are sold at more than 500 stores nationwide and internationally, including Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Whole Foods, which features styles made from recycled materials. TOMS most recently has partnered with both Nordstrom and Disney 'It's a Small World' designing a special line based on the iconic Disney designer Mary Blair's original drawings to create a special line for infants and toddlers. The shoes will be carried exclusively at Nordstrom beginning in February 2011. In January 2009, TOMS collaborated with Element Skateboards to create a line of TOMS shoes, skate decks and longboards. For each pair of TOMS Element shoes and/or skateboard bought, one of the same was given to kids at the Indigo Skate camp in the village Isithumba in Durban, South Africa. Blake Mycoskie is hoping to expand the One for One model into other areas like housing, water and schoolbooks. Mycoskie would like to create partnerships with companies so his customers can buy what they need while the same things are given to those who need them across the globe.

Vagabond Tour

In early 2009 the second Vagabond Tour launched (sponsored by Dave Matthews Band) to reach campuses across the United States. The tour began on February 23 and ended on May 15. Volunteers are broken up into five regional teams (SW, NW, NE, SE, and MW/TX) in an effort to reach different campuses nation-wide to spread information regarding TOMS' One for One movement.

Charity

Friends of TOMS is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit affiliate of TOMS Shoes. The organization coordinates volunteer activities and all TOMS shoe drops.

In 2006, TOMS distributed 10,000 pairs of shoes in Argentina. In November 2007, the company distributed 50,000 pairs of shoes to children in South Africa. As of April 2009, TOMS had distributed 140,000 pairs of shoes to children in Argentina, Ethiopia, South Africa as well as children in the United States. The company announced in April 2010 that they had given over 600,000 pairs of new shoes to children in need around the world.

Recognition

In October 2007, TOMS Shoes received the People's Design Award, as determined by an online popularity contest by the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum and has been noted as a successful model of social entrepreneurship. Also in 2007, Blake was invited to speak along with President Bill Clinton at the Opening Plenary of the Second Annual CGI U Meeting. This meeting in Austin, Texas hosted more than 1,300 students and activists from around the world. In February 2009 Mycoskie also spoke at the TED conference (Technology, Entertainment, Design), a meeting of peers including people such as Bill Gates and JJ Abrams. Blake has also visited the White House. On March 6, 2009 he attended a meeting with President Obama's Senior Administration with other business leaders to present viable solutions and ideas regarding U.S. economic policy. Specifically, he presented information regarding potential in the economic plan to support small businesses in the U.S. More recently, Mycoskie was featured along with the owner of Frontera Foods, Rick Bayless in a CNBC segment titled "The Entrepreneurs". Hosted by Donny Deutsch, the show highlighted the innovators' profiles and the stories behind their companies. On April 8, 2009, an AT&T commercial aired during the Master's Golf Tournament featuring TOMS Shoes. Directed by award-winning Bennet Miller, the piece is slated to run at least twelve weeks. It is the first time the AT&T mobile unit has displayed a real company. In February 2010, FastCompany named TOMS #6 on their list of Top Ten Most Innovative Retail Companies.

Current projects

In 2009, TOMS aimed to give shoes to children in Haiti in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative. They also work with a factory in Ethiopia to provide shoes locally in the surrounding areas. The company has also expanded its merchandise list to include clothing and different types of shoes including Stitchouts, Wrap Boots, Botas, Cordones, and the highly anticipated Wedge, which debuted June 2010.

On April 5, 2011, TOMS hosted their 4th annual One Day Without Shoes. The company will challenge people worldwide to go a day without shoes in order to raise awareness for the millions of children who go without shoes every day. More than 250,000 people across the globe went barefoot on April 8 of last year in support of TOMS One Day Without Shoes.

External links

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• TOMS Shoes official website
• Friends of TOMS official website
• CBS Blake and Paige Amazing Race Bio, 2002