Posted on 05/07/2021 5:52:48 PM PDT by ameribbean expat
Van Doren, who died Thursday, was born in Randolph, Massachusetts, and dropped out of high school. He moved to Southern California in the 1960s and founded the company with his brother James, who died at age 72 in 2011.
The siblings opened their first Vans shoe store at 704 E. Broadway in Anaheim on March 16, 1966. The company says their idea was to manufacture shoes on-site and sell them directly to the public.
The brothers started their company with a $250,000 investment and sold it in 2004 for $396 million to VF Corp., which also owns Supreme, The North Face, Timberland, Dickies, Eastpak and Jansport.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcmiami.com ...
RIP.
The Vans outlet store near me had a buy one get one free deal and I bought a couple pairs for $20 each. Best deal on name brand shoes you can get I would think. Everything in the Nike and Adidas stores was $50+. No thanks.
We all gotta go sometime. guess he made his mark. That’s good.
RIP...Originally The Van Doren Rubber Company. A great company and a great product. Through our retail business, we were Vans dealers for over 25 years, and it was pleasure working with them.
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