Denim Wars | Lord of the Flies | 5

Business Wars

Wondery

History, Business, David Brown, Management

4.6 • 13.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 November 2020

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It's the '80s and Levi's is far out in front in the battle for denim dominance.

But Lee owner V.F. Corporation isn't giving up. It's about to make a major move that will pile the pressure on Levi's and threaten its status as market leader.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to Business Wars Add Free on Amazon Music.
0:04.6	Download the app today.
0:07.0	February 1981, Greensboro, North Carolina.
0:20.1	The headquarters of Blue Bell, the company that owns the Wrangler Jeans brand.
0:25.0	Inside the company's packed auditorium, tension hangs in the air.
0:30.2	Blue Bell 63-year-old CEO Kimsey Mann shuts the doors of the auditorium.
0:36.3	It's full of Blue Bell stockholders, but it's quite enough to hear a pin drop.
0:42.2	Mann looks across the room.
0:44.3	At the front, an older gentleman sits at a table.
0:47.6	He's Ad Morris, Blue Bell 77-year-old chairman of the board.
0:53.7	The stockholders watch as Mann crosses the floor, with his eyes locked on the aging chairman.
1:00.3	The two of them at each other's throats for months.
1:03.6	And now, it's high noon.
1:07.0	The trouble began when John Travolta's hit movie Urban Cowboy lit a fire under Wrangler's
1:12.5	sales.
1:13.5	Blue Bell jacked up production, only to get burned when the western wear craze faded fast.
1:20.3	And that's when steel maker Allegheny Ludlum launched a surprise takeover offer.
1:25.8	The bid ignited total war in Blue Bell's boardroom.
1:30.4	CEO Mann reaches the stage and addresses the stockholders.
1:37.4	For months, Mr. Morris has been undermining me.
1:40.8	Allegheny Ludlum's offer was too low, but he kept talking to them behind my back.
1:46.0	This is unacceptable.
	...

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