JULY 2007: BIZ LIFE, TACTICS
SOLE SOLUTIONS
LACROSSE FOOTWEAR: lacrossefootwear.com
MISSION: Maximizing the work and outdoor experience
FOUNDED: 1897
2007 GROSS ANNUAL REVENUE: $118 million
EMPLOYEES WORLDWIDE: 340
LaCrosse CEO Joseph Schneider stands behind his
Portland plant armed with his favorite boot, Danner
Lights.
PHOTO BY ADAM BACHER
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When Joseph Schneider was promoted to CEO of LaCrosse Footwear
in August 2000, the shoe industry had changed, but LaCrosse,
founded in Wisconsin in 1897 as a maker of rubber horseshoes,
had not. The Portland-based outdoor and work boot maker was
paying the price for failing to keep up with the market, losing
millions between 1999 and 2002.
“When I took over, we were heavily in debt and had
little accountability,” says Schneider. “I believe
you cant emotional event. That emotional
event took place when our bank said ‘we want out’
in September 2000. When a bank says ‘we want out,’
you’ve got to scramble to decide how to focus resources
to survive.”
Wanting this company to survive was much more personal for
Schneider than for most CEOs. His father, George, was chairman
of the board for 23 years, and Schneider’s family owns
half of the public company’s stock. (LaCrosse acquired
Portland-based Danner Shoe Manufacturing Company in 1994, and
went public the same year. It moved to Portland in 2001.)
Schneider sliced about 100 jobs, moved 80% of the
company’s manufacturing to China (keeping the rest at its
Portland plant), and eliminated some products to focus on
“niche sustainable markets.” With dozens of
competitors such as Columbia, Wolverine, Timberland, Merrell,
Ricky and Cabela’s at its heels, the company moved
forward. In 2007, its gross revenue hit $118 million, steadily
climbing back from a low of $89 million in 2003.
The domestic shoe industry is shrinking, but LaCrosse is
bucking the trend. “We are a very small player,”
says Schneider. “But our niche markets are
growing.” Less than 10% of its business is international
— with exports to Japan, Canada and Europe — but
that area is growing at a faster rate than U.S. sales.
LaCrosse identified four areas where it believes demand for
footwear will remain strong: transportation (such as railroad
workers), energy (mining), law enforcement and the military.
“You need to know exactly what the worker needs,”
says Schneider. “You have to be the expert in the market
from soup to nuts. With strategies, you tend to get about 80%
right, then you have to be flexible.”
“There’s been a shift toward using commercially
available products by the military,” says Schneider.
“When the country went to war, most of the technology was
based on Vietnam. But there have been huge changes since then.
What the Army and Marines found out is that they could buy
commercial products that would perform better.”
LaCrosse has won $3.5 million in orders from the Marines and
the Army. The Army ordered the Danner Explorer, and the Marines
ordered the Danner Marine Hot boot and the Mountain Cold
Weather boot. The boots are made at the Portland plant, which
employs 130 workers.
“This is not a glamorous white-shoe business,”
says Schneider. “The main difference between us and the
white shoe guys like Nike is that we can’t buy our way
into it, we have to earn it. That Marine or coal miner has to
have an unbelievable experience with our
product.”
ROBIN DOUSSARD
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