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LA GEAR Named in favor of the city of Angels, L.A. Gear was best known in the 1990s for its blinking children shoes, L.A. Lights (Hoovers, 2003). The company’s tumultuous history has evolved into one that is now a licensor for a variety of product lines, including apparel, watches, and its original line of footwear. L.A. Gear has gone from being a major player in the highly competitive field of athletic shoes, to bankruptcy, to a company with a new focus and new lines. Robert Greenberg started L.A. Gear as a single women’s clothing store on Melrose Ave in Los Angeles. Selling mostly other brand names, he also offered his own line of women’s casual footwear and clothing under the store’s name, L.A. Gear. The 1980’s saw the emergence of “female” sports such as Aerobics and created a need and trend for sporty but fashionable apparel. L.A. Gear’s footwear fit this need perfectly with its interesting choice of colors and shapes (University, 2001). Exploiting this strong niche in the fashion segment of the athletic footwear market with shoes such as the Canvas Workout and Street Walker, the company became a nationwide success. L.A. Gear went public in1986 and added numerous lines in order to penetrate the children’s and men’s market. Their overall success could be attributed to their superior target marketing and trend spotting. By 1989, L.A. Gear had reached third place in the athletic shoe market (University, 2001). Trying to shake the fashionable female image and gain more market share in the men’s “performance” shoe market, the company’s new advertising campaign “Unstoppable” featured basketball stars in 1989 as well as Michael Jackson in 1990. The milestone blinking sneakers for kids elevated L.A. Gear to a household name in that segment. However, the huge investment in the men’s market did not bring the expected results. Financial troubles, management turmoil and unclear strategies followed all through the 1990’s. A licensing deal with Wal-Mart in 1994 and the closure of all of their own retail outlets the following year, further distorted their image as a high-end player in the sports footwear market. After emerging from bankruptcy protection in 1998 L.A. Gear became a licensor only having almost disappeared from the athletic footwear market. Kidfusion (LA, 1998) is licensed to develop and produce swimwear and related apparel for kids under L.A. Gear’s name. Los Angeles-based footwear company ACI International, acquired LA Gear in 2001 (Warm, 2002) and now markets throughout the United States and Canada. SWOT Analysis: Strengths § High brand recognition by women and children.
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