What's the ballpark of the current band's revenue?

We're a three to four billion dollar company. Five hundred retail stores in the US, 60 in Canada, 600 in China, 250 over in Europe. Where did the van store you get? So my dad worked for a shoe company for 20 years. My dad had a disagreement with the owner who he was best friends with and he my dad. And that's where the band. His dream was to make his own shoes, put in his own stores, and sell him himself. The company had been around almost 20 years, so in millions in revenue. The problem was we got out of our niche. It was causing a fortune. And unfortunately the bank came in and said, hey, you have $11 million. We want our money. But you guys sort of pioneered the hybrid of the lifestyle brand with the shoes.

Vance Warped Tour was something that was our best marketing thing we ever did.

That was the way Vans got known with music.

In the mid-70s, skaters started to wear our shoes.

So it was Tony Alva and, you know, Jayabs and all of the, you know, dog town skaters and stuff.

Then all of a sudden these skaters and the BMXers and surfers were wearing our shoes, they gave us purpose.

Where did the band's name come from and where did the off-the-wall slogan come from?

Hey guys, welcome this episode on the Passion If You podcast today.

It's your host Omar, and today you guys are in for an epic interview as we sit down with none other than Steve Van Dorn of the epic Vans Footwear Company.

Steve, thanks so much for being on the show today. Nice to meet you. Be here today. I feel welcome with skateboards and shoes around here. My gosh, this is awesome. Yes, sir. We had to keep it off the wall in true Vans fashion. I like that. I like that. Yes, sir. And I know we've been trying to do this for a while, so thank you again for your time. thanks to be impatient absolutely you've got it my man so let's talk about it you know a lot of

people see the vance company. Everyone has had, you know, a pair, if not multiple, dozens of pairs of these over the course of their lifetime, youth, childhood, even as they grow up. But take us back. Where did the Vans story begin? Because I know you and your father very, very early on, started this company, the van's rubber company, and that would later evolve.

But take us way back to day one.

Where did the van story begin?

So that's an easy one.

So it's a Van Dorm Rubber Company was the name because there was only three companies since 1900 go into making vulcanized footwear.

So we're from Boston. My dad worked

for a shoe company for 20 years called Brandies. He made shoes for Bob Coozy back in the day

with the Boston Celtics and stuff. And my dad was asked to move to California in 1964

for a company. They had bought a factory in Garden Grove and it was losing a million dollars every other month.

So my dad came out here for six months. We didn't see our dad with five other people from Boston.

And they straightened that factory out, making a profit, doing better than the East Coast factory that he had worked for for 20 years.

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