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LA Gear history
LA Gear company history timeline
1979: Robert Greenberg incorporates a roller skating rental shop as Good Times, Inc., the forerunner of L.A. Gear, Inc.
Now recognized as one of the most iconic brands in the world, LA Gear first launched in 1983 as a women’s brand with its own clothing store in Los Angeles on the famed Melrose Avenue, finding immediate success with its trendy line of footwear.
1984: Greenberg closes retail store to concentrate on wholesale shoe sales.
The overwhelming reception in the marketplace pushed sales from $200,000 at the beginning of the year to $1.8 million at the end of 1985.
1985: L.A. Gear enters the athletic shoe market with the Canvas Workout women's shoe.
In 1986 L.A. Gear became a public company, and the money raised from the stock offering allowed the company to diversify.
Sales increased 200 percent in 1986 and doubled the next year.
1986: The company goes public, using the IPO proceeds to diversify beyond women's footwear.
Profits continued to pour in as sales increased by 200% in that year and doubled in 1987.
By 1987, LA Gear made a successful expansion into activewear for both men and women.
Business Week, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and Fortune highlighted L.A. Gear's stock as the best performer on the New York Stock Exchange in 1989.
Encouraged by its success in the women's market, L.A. Gear decided to expand its sales in the men's market in 1989.
In 1990 L.A. Gear was thought to be a 'flash in the pan,' Montgomery Securities' apparel analyst Alice Ruth told Institutional Investor.
However, the way 1990 ended was significantly different from the way it began.
By the end of the year, Company Histories reports, “…L.A. Gear’s market share had dropped to eight percent from its high off 11.8 percent in 1990.” It is odd that a man who built a company on style and the movement of pop culture didn’t see the cultural changes in the air.
The company's market share continued to expand in 1991, but at the expense of profits.
Meanwhile, also in 1991, the company introduced the L.A. Lights series of lighted athletic shoes for children, which fared better than the men's line.
Nike filed a suit against L.A. Gear in 1991 alleging the Catapult infringed on Nike's patented 'spring moderator' technology.
Ogilvy and Mather was chosen to create ads and buy media space in late 1991. 'Get in Gear,' the new umbrella theme, was unveiled at the 1991 Sporting Goods Manufacturer's Association Super Show in Atlanta, Georgia.
However, by 1991 LA Gear committed missteps that would cause the plummeting of its sales; worse, a case of pure bad luck eventually cost the company everything it had.
In a similar case, L.A. Gear paid Reebok $1 million and licensing fees in an out-of-court settlement in 1992.
In 1992 L.A. Gear signed a sourcing agreement with LASCO, an affiliate of Pentland Group plc, the world's largest sourcing agent, respected throughout the footwear industry.
After leaving L.A. Gear in 1992, Robert Greenberg created another shoe brand, Skechers.
In 1994, the company was forced to abandon their line of men’s sports footwear line and returned to marketing women’s apparel, trying to recover from their losses somehow.
However, in doing so the company was so desperate to sell the remaining inventory that L.A. Gear shoes began showing up at flea markets, swap meets, and supermarkets.” 1994 was going to be worse with the arrival of mercury.
In September 1995 L.A. Gear announced that it would close its eight retail outlets and reduce its workforce by an additional 30 percent.
By November 1995 Company Histories mentions that L.A. Gear posted a $51.4 million loss on sales.
Even Wal-Mart’s joint venture to sell lower-valued footwear in 1995 didn’t save LA Gear from their downward spiral.
In April 1996 the company was unable to pay the $50 million in dividends it owed to Trefoil, so the investment firm accepted a preferred stock swap that increased its ownership interest in L.A. Gear to 42 percent.
The company's downward spiral continued in 1997, however, when sales fell still further, to $125 million.
In late 1997 Trefoil Capital decided to sell its 42% stake in L.A. Gear.
The company finally filed for bankruptcy in 1998.
By 1999, LA Gear launched a successful line of women’s accessories and children’s swimwear.
Sloan, J. (2003). ‘Waiting For The Other Shoe To Drop His First Company, L.A. Gear, Grew to $820 Million in Sales in Just Seven Years, Then Fell Apart.
By 2004 the name was launched again and featured the Catapult line.
In 2008, LA Gear Originals – which included the popular Unstoppable and LA Lights lines – was presented as a high-end collection of footwear inspired by the brand’s most popular styles of the past.
As of 2018 it was the third largest athletic footwear brand in the Untied States.
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LA Gear competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fantazzle Fantasy Sports Games | 2008 | $750,000 | 30 | - |
| Eastbay | 1980 | $8.0B | 10,001 | 12 |
| Converse | 1908 | $1.9B | 4,407 | 3 |
| Allied Domecq Spirits & Wine Americas Inc | - | $9.8M | 25 | - |
| Specialized Marketing International | 1970 | $9.5M | 75 | - |
| Janome America | 1921 | $14.0M | 92 | 4 |
| Carolee | 1972 | $320,000 | 6 | - |
| American Achievement Group Holding Corp | 2006 | - | 1,600 | - |
| National Sales Corporation | - | $4.5M | 20 | - |
| Hest Fitness | - | $1.6M | 45 | - |
LA Gear history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of LA Gear, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about LA Gear. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at LA Gear. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by LA Gear. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of LA Gear and its employees or that of Zippia.
LA Gear may also be known as or be related to L.A. Gear, Inc and LA Gear.