If you still don’t know what Crocs are then you must have been living under a rock.
Crocs are those weird looking foam clogs that come in a rainbow of colors. Crocs were first sold in 2002 and has gained an amazing growth in sales over the next few years. It’s notable that Crocs appeared at a time when the America was recovering from a recession. The $30 shoes was very comfortable and was also marketed to last forever. America immediately fell in love with Crocs with practically everyone — including Dubya — donning them. Even though Crocs were seen as very anti-fashion and yet despite the “un-cool” tag, Crocs managed to sell 100 million pairs in seven years.
But all good things come to an end.
Crocs seems to have over-extended itself, and coupled with another recession — it seems to have been hit hard. Very hard. From a profit of $168.2 million in fiscal year 2007. The company posted a loss of $185.1 million last year. And to top it off, it now has to contend with a large surplus of shoes. Its durability has backfired because in these tough economic times, consumers are not buying that extra pair, knowing that the Crocs they have bought will last them a long time. Crocs’ best selling point was also its achilles heel.
There’s a good chance that Crocs will go under. But look at the bright side — in a decade or so we’ll be looking back fondly at those clunky plastic clogs.