DC Shoes

DC Shoes' primary focus is designing and manufacturing the highest quality footwear, specializing in skateboarding shoes, snowboarding boots, Active Terrain footwear, women's and children's casual footwear, along with complementary apparel. The quality of our products is matched by the integrity of our business practices and employment environment. DC takes pride in its cultivated relationships with the media, suppliers, clients, customers, team riders, and employees. DC Shoes' commitment to excellence deepens with the company's continued expansion. Drydek-DC Shoes foundation funds the first skate plaza in Kettering, Ohio. built an indoor training facility, called Vista TF, for its skateboard team in 2001. The company also constructed a training and testing center for snowboarding, the DC Mountain Lab, near Park City, Utah. Australian surfwear manufacturer Billabong International Ltd. offered to buy DC Shoes in 2002. However, the deal fell through. Along the way, Blehm was terminated; he then sued DC and Billabong, claiming age discrimination. DC countersued, alleging breach of fiduciary responsibility on Blehm's part. The company was also enduring an IRS audit at the same time. The film DC Video celebrated the aerial exploits of DC's two original endorsers, Danny Way and Colin McKay. It took three years to make and was released in July 2003. Footage included Way's record 75-feet-long and 231/2-feet-high jumps. After years of involvement with the company, Danny Way and Colin McKay received equity stakes in DC Shoes in September 2003. DC's celebrity endorsements extended beyond professional extreme athletes. The company developed a signature shoe with the rock group Linkin Park. It had also sponsored musical tours like Sno-Core. DC's Artist Projects produced limited runs of shoes designed in collaboration with artists such as Shepard Fairey, Thomas Campbell, and Phil Frost. In the early 1990s, DC featured hip-hop DJs in its print ads. DC-branded skate-oriented outerwear was introduced in 2002. DC launched a new brand of shoes, Fallen, with popular pro skateboarder Jamie Thomas in October 2003. Fallen shoes reflected the edgier fashions preferred by core skaters, as opposed to the more general skateboarding market targeted by the DC Shoes brand. A line of girls' clothing was developed for spring 2004. DC collaborated with Yamaha to develop the DC/Yamaha SXViper Mountain snowmobile. The vehicle was designed specifically to take snowboarders to backcountry powder, that is, to climb steep terrain faster than stock snowmobiles. DC had become acquainted with Yamaha through motocross events. Many municipalities frowned on skaters' use of rails, benches, and other urban props. However, the skate plaza concept encouraged skateboarding in a town square setting. The Rob Dyrdek-DC Shoes Foundation was created to promote the construction of skate plazas, beginning with one in Kettering, Ohio, the hometown of DC Shoes endorser Rob Drydek. In October 2003, the foundation granted the town $250,000 to fund half the cost of building the first skate plaza of its kind. What can account for DC's explosive growth in the mid-1990s, and its durability as one of the most popular brands in action sports? (According to Board-Trac, DC Shoes was the favorite brand of skateboarders, snowboarders, and surfers in 2002.) DC's close association with top pros has certainly been a factor, as has its knack for staging promotional events. However, the company also creatively met challenges in design, production, distribution, and financing. As one industry insider put it in Agents of Change: "DC was the first skate shoe company to really fire on all cylinders." DC Shoes, Inc. produces footwear for extreme sports, specifically skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, motocross, and BMX. Two million pairs of DC shoes were produced in 2001. The company also sells shirts, pants, jeans, shorts, jackets, caps, backpacks, and other accessories. DC Shoes experienced