Online socks seller mixes commerce and charity
NEW YORK • David Heath, the co-founder and CEO of online sock company Bombas, was an entrepreneur early on. His advice? Focus on one product before branching out. Don’t copy your competition. And Heath, who meditates daily and brings his Jack Russell terrier named Cooper to work, emphasizes the importance of a healthy work culture.
Heath co-founded Bombas not because of an overwhelming desire to make a comfortable sock, but after realizing that they were the No. 1 clothing item requested by the homeless.
Heath, the CEO, and his partner Randy Goldberg spent two years developing socks with features like blister tabs and arch support. Then they teamed up with shelters and non-profit groups, and the company donates a pair for every pair it sells.
Incorporating charity into the business from the get-go has turned out to be successful. So far, the New York-based company has sold almost 9 million pairs Bombas, started in 2013, had its first profit in 2016 and generated nearly $50 million in sales last year.
Q. How did you come up with the (socks) idea?
A. The light-bulb moment was, I saw this quote — ‘Socks were the most requested (clothing) item for the homeless.’ And then I saw what Toms was doing and Warby Parker just launched. This one-for-one thing is super-interesting and people seem to really resonate with it. I thought maybe we can do this for socks, donating socks as part of the business. But in order to donate our socks, we have to sell a lot of socks, so what is going to be our edge? We looked at the landscape. And took a business school mentality to figuring out where the opportunity was.
Q. What sort of opportunity did you see?
A. There was a massive gap between the commodity bulk buying and then there was the sub-category of ultra-premium individual pairs. You got a running sock for $15 ... a hiking sock ... a basketball sock. Socks that were marketed toward endemic categories. We started buying all these socks. What separates an $18 sock from a $2 sock? Q. So, what’s the difference? A. There was a ton of innovation happening. Seamless toes, arch supports, incredible fabric designs. Conformed fits. And so the next ‘aha’ moment? Why don’t we take all the technology ... and bring it to the mass market? And not just market to runners but market to anybody who is on their feet all day?
Q. How do you view competition?
A. We look at other companies that are all digital brands. We stick together. We are very close with the people at Warby. We are very close to the people at Bonobos. We share insights with Casper on our marketing. We try to collaborate. We are all trying to disrupt against the big main players in the industry.