July 9, 2004
LONDON, July 9th 2004. New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. received its Queen's Award for Enterprise today and celebrated by announcing ambitious plans for a fivefold increase in its European business.
This determined sales drive will concentrate on all markets where New Balance operates and especially on the British, French, German and Italian markets - and central to the expansion will be a range of vintage running shoes that were state-of-the-art on their day and are now all the rage in the fashion centres of Europe.
Said Alistair Cameron, General Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa: "We have doubled our marketing investment for 2005 and we will be recruiting another 25 people over the next six months, in product design and marketing, to support the development of products worldwide and especially those specifically suited to the European markets."
He continued: "Our aim is to take a more dominant position in the serious running market across Europe, overtake the competition in walking, especially in Germany, where we have become the fastest growing walking and running brand.
"At the same time, and as a central plank of our strategy, we are in the process of relaunching our heritage collection, shoes which are hand-made in our Flimby factory in Cumbria, and that are already taking London, Milan and Paris by storm."
He explained: "This collection brings together running shoes that were technological masterpieces of their day. Now they're right at the forefront of style because they have been rediscovered, initially by sneaker buffs, as classic, highly collectable pieces, not because they were designed intentionally for the fashion market. They are icons because of their heritage, pedigree and sporting rank not because they have an international designers name attached to them.
"Now their 'Made in Britain' status will further help our export drive not only in Europe but as far afield as Japan where we continue to build a powerful reputation on the back of strong sales and greater market penetration."
About New Balance
New Balance, headquartered in Boston, MA, is a leading manufacturer of technologically innovative width-sized performance footwear and athletic apparel for women, men, and children. The range of product categories includes running, walking, cross training, basketball, tennis, adventure, and kids. Dunham joined the New Balance family in Fall 1998. Dunham is an outdoor performance brand known for its technologies, innovations and development of footwear that is lightweight, comfortable and inspired by the world outside. New Balance acquired the rights to the PF Flyers brand in February 2000. First introduced in 1937 by the B.F. Goodrich Company, PF Flyers was re-launched in Spring 2003 as an authentic brand of active casual footwear. Aravon® comfort performance brand footwear debuted in January 2004 as an unsurpassed blend of fit, comfort, support and style. New Balance employs more than 2,600 people around the globe, and in 2003 reported worldwide sales of $1.3 billion. For more information please visit www.newbalance.com.
