Man, that's one ugly shoe. (Getty Images)
Answer: About a zillion people. In the seven years since their inception, customers bought 100 million pairs of the spongy, sling-back, clown-like shoes, the sales of which brought in $168.2 million in profit in just 2007 alone. However, the Crocs magic was not to last. According to The Washington Post, in 2008, just a year later, the company was deep in debt--losing $185.1 million and cutting 2,000 jobs while the Crocs stock price fell 76 percent. Auditors hired to assess the company's financial viability suggested conditions "that raise substantial doubt about the ability to continue." The Post says Crocs has until September to pay off its debt.
"The company's toast," Damon Vickers, who manages an investment fund at Nine Points Capital Partners in Seattle, told The Post, "They're zombie-ish. They're dead and they don't know it."
Yikes.
Perhaps the saddest part of this retail fail story is the fact that the Crocs' design may have ultimately been its undoing. Not because it was ugly, unflattering and buffoonish; but because it is nearly indestructible, which means one pair will last years and years--thus reducing the amount of repeat customers and leaving the company with a massive excess inventory it is unable to unload. What an eerie, tragic, and a weird sign of our times to imagine the supply (warehouses full of forlorn rainbow-colored Crocs) lying around and collecting dust with no demand.
Despite evidence to the contrary, the people at Crocs remain optimistic: Their last ditch efforts will include marketing to caterers, medical workers, and people with foot problems, and, randomly, trying to get George Clooney involved. I mean, I guess that dude could sell anything.
Source: Washington Post
