
Fad or Icon? How the Crocs brand crashed & burned - andrewbaron
http://ries.typepad.com/ries_blog/2009/10/how-crocs-crashed.html
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andrewljohnson
While the stock price has certainly crashed, Crocs is still worth $650M
dollars:
[http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:CROX](http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:CROX)

If that's a fad, I hope I can create a fad business someday.

Maybe the Crocs business strategy was exactly right - milk it while it's
trendy, and then keep a good business at the end.

It's not like these shoes are Nintendo Wiis. There is absolutely no limit on
how many you can produce. If Crocs hadn't saturated the market, then all those
knock-offs would have stolen more of the total money to be made on the idea.

~~~
mcd
> If Crocs hadn't saturated the market, then all those knock-offs would have
> stolen more of the total money to be made on the idea.

That is true. I think the total amount of crocs sold is the same - the only
difference is that 90% of them are knockoffs. I am wearing a $2 pair of knock-
offs right now.

The problem is that it was a good idea which everyone could copy.

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dantheman
I could understand these as cheap water shoes for children. I've been a fan of
these watershoes for adults:
[http://www.rei.com/product/780680?cm_mmc=cse_froogle-_-
dataf...](http://www.rei.com/product/780680?cm_mmc=cse_froogle-_-datafeed-_-
product-_-780680&mr:trackingCode=C837B1FE-
FB85-DE11-B7F3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA)

They stay on really well, and when combined with neoprene booties provide the
best cold water/mountain river shoe I've ever found. I use these when I go
kayaking or try to hike up a stream or creek.

They're not that much more expansive, but provide a significantly improved
experience, and look a lot nicer. Overall though, I the crocs fit a certain
need -- cheap watershoes, for infrequent use, or for children.

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Tarks
I wondeer if this helped their downfall.

<http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=fashion>

~~~
scythe
While I doubt Maddox alone was a serious influence on anyone's stock price,
commentators like him definitely have an influence on people's attitudes; when
Crocs became ugly and smelly in the minds of many potential customers, those
people were no longer potential customers.

(Whether Crocs are _actually_ ugly and smelly is beside the point, though I
agree with maddox here)

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hop
Yeah, their stock was trading around a P/E of 60 for a while. Its the first
and only time I bought a put on a stock. Complete irrational exuberance.

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tptacek
If they hadn't produced to sustain and satisfy demand, they might have made
less money, if the trend was destined to falter anyways.

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davidw
Question for debate: is twitter a fad or an icon?

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olefoo
This is not a question that can be answered in a span of less than a decade.

~~~
davidw
Yeah, you're right, but it's an interesting one to ponder.

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maukdaddy
Oh come on. Everyone and their mother saw this one coming. Anyone who bought
shares of Crocs was only playing a game of timing.

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beefman
Funny, I doubled my money on the stock in the last 6 months... I think they're
doing great!

Yes it was a fad, and yes they didn't stick to fundamentals with their product
line, but there are enough fat people, diabetics, and children in the world to
sustain the company for the long haul.

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eric_t
All the knock-offs at one fifth of the price probably helped too...

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mmphosis
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=900866>

