Costa Mesa-based Vans Inc. is tackling the impacts of COVID-19 on small business through a newly launched Customs initiative.
The footwear company recently rolled out its Foot The Bill program, partnering with local skate shops, restaurants, venues and art galleries on custom-designed footwear. The shoes are made through the company’s Vans Customs personalization platform that lets customers create certain styles of shoes.
In this case, it was used by small businesses to design exclusive, limited edition footwear to help them generate revenue.
Vans said it plans to support at least 80 small businesses that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic through Foot The Bill.
“We know how important small businesses are: We were one,” said Vans Vice President of Events and Promotions Steve Van Doren in a letter to customers on the program’s launch.
Each business selected to participate in Foot The Bill helped design their respective Vans canvas slip-on, with net proceeds—minus the cost to produce and ship—going directly to the company tied to that shoe.
500 Pairs Per Partner
The shoes are sold on Vans’ website for $90, with customers allowed to further customize parts such as the binding, heel and elastic gore.
Vans said as many as 500 pairs of shoes per business partner would be produced and the footwear firm would continue selling the shoes until it was out of supply.
Participants range from Los Angeles music venue Zebulon and restaurant Jon & Vinny’s, to Hesperia’s Pharmacy Boardshop and Pawnshop Skate Co. in Covina. The company said it picked program participants that are “community driven” and directly impacted by the coronavirus.
Furnace Skate Shop in Buena Park, which opened in 1996 originally in Cypress, solicited multiple people to collaborate on its shoe design, which is a black-and-gray spray paint pattern running throughout the canvas upper aimed at reflecting the shop’s different generations.
“The impact of this pandemic can have permanent damage to people, brands, shops that we love, entire communities,” Furnace said on the Vans landing site for Foot The Bill. “So it’s pretty vital to support each other at a time like this. We are humbled to be part of this Vans Customs project in these very strange days. The net proceeds will help keep the machine oiled and running so that we can continue to serve the community.”
VF Efforts, Funds
Vans is part of Denver-based multi-brand operator VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC), which also owns The North Face, Dickies and Timberland. The company had a recent market cap of $21 billion.
VF said this month it would provide $1.5 million through its VF Foundation to relief and response funds. It also said it would match as much as $500,000 through a community fundraising program to provide grants through its GlobalGiving arm to those in need around the world.
