Shoe seller steps up to stomp out poverty, help kids

Three years after Toms Shoes arrived in China and sold up to one million pairs of its canvas slip-ons in the country, Blake Mycoskie, the company’s founder and CEO, thinks it’s high time to remind consumers about the company’s unique corporate social responsibility program.

Whenever a customer in China buys a pair of Toms shoes, the company donates another pair of shoes for free to an underprivileged Chinese child.

The donation depends on the conditions in which children are living, they might instead receive a pair of boots or sneakers.

California-based Toms Shoes, which is short for Tomorrow’s Shoes and was founded in 2006, trademarked the phrase “One For One” in 2011 as its business model and charity cause.

“I think one of the important things for Toms at this moment in this market is for customers to know that giving is our mission and roots, not some marketing tricks,” Mycoskie told China Daily on Dec 17.

The 41-year-old Texan embarked on his first “giving trip” in China the next day to southwestern Yunnan province, together with Chinese actress Zhou Xun.

By partnering since 2013 with NGO Heifer China — which focuses on poverty alleviation and rural community development — the company has given shoes to 60,000 kids in underprivileged regions such as Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

“Kids in these areas are usually responsible for heavy farm work, and the roads there are not as good as in big cities. It’s heart-breaking to see them walking in broken or unfit shoes for miles. The shoes donated by Toms not only allow them to run faster and easier, but also makes our cause more meaningful,” said Jia Ruting, the spokesperson for Heifer China.

Added Mycoskie: “It’s important for me to keep connected to the mission, even beyond business reasons. On a personal level, it kind of brings me back to the original idea and why we started the organization.”

Mycoskie discovered the special type of shoes worn by Argentina farmers while volunteering there 11 years ago and decided to turn the concept into a for-profit business so that shoeless children can be helped sustainably.

The shoes became an instant hit, appearing on some of the most sought-after celebrity feet in Hollywood just 60 days after the launch. Now available at more than 40 countries, the

I think one of the important things for Toms at this moment in this market is for customers to know that giving is our mission and roots, not some marketing tricks.” Blake Mycoskie, founder and CEO of Toms Shoes

company has helped millions of children, according to Toms Shoes.

While Mycoskie emphasized that what differentiates the cause from many corporate social responsibility projects is that “it’s not for the purpose of marketing”, he admitted that in China, his team needs marketing to spread their ideology and drive growth.

“I think we have a lot to do to get the idea of ‘One For One’ more accepted and celebrated in China,” Mycoskie said. He noted that once the idea is acknowledged, the market is going to “tip”, as seen in other mature markets, and see much higher growth than the company sees now.

Together with Germany and the United States, China is already among the company’s fastest-growing markets. Sales on its exclusive ecommerce platform on Tmall in particular, have risen by 50 percent year-onyear in 2017.

Globally, half of those who choose the brand’s most popular footwear — its espadrille-like shoes, which retail for $30 to $80 — do so in large part because of the unique cause, according to the company’s customer survey.

In China, the percentage is much lower, but 90 percent of the customers said they are aware of the program.

“The real challenge is to get customers, especially young ones in China, to think that wearing a pair of shoes is a statement about, ‘Who I am and what I care about is cool’. The more we can connect with a customer, the bigger growth we can get,” said Mycoskie, who now owns nealry 50 percent of the company’s stake.

In 2014, Boston-based private equity firm Bain Capital bought the remaining 50 percent. The company was valued at $625 million at the time.

“It takes time. You cannot just advertise that. It’s about building credibility. That’s why I am here, to give the credibility to Toms,” he added.