Sustainable footwear company lands 10 new accounts

Tag : Designer Footwear

END Footwear , a startup sustainable shoe company, has landed 10 new retailaccounts in the Southeastern United States.
END's Fall 2008 line, focusing on lightweight trail training andlight backpacking footwear, includes seven styles each of men's andwomen's shoes and will be available at retail locations on August1. The year-old Portland company was founded by award-winningfootwear designer Andrew Estey and business partner Ben Finklea.The END Fall 2008 line uses 35 percent to 59 percent fewer complexparts and material than Outside Magazine 's Top Trail Running Picks for 2007.
New retailers picking up the Fall 2008 END footwear line include Great Outdoor Provision Co. , Raleigh, N.C.; Rock/Creek in Chattanooga, Tenn.; Adventure'sEdge, Morgantown, W.Va.; Alabama Outdoors, Birmingham, Ala.; BlackCreek Outfitters, Jacksonville, Fla.; Diamond Brand Outdoors,Arden, N.C.; Fleet Feet Sports, Carrboro, N.C.; Little RiverTrading Company, Maryville, Tenn.; Water Stone Outdoors,Fayetteville, W.Va.; and North Beach Outfitters, Duck, N.C.
"We picked END because of its commitment to the environment,excellent price-point and its 'light is right' mentality,"said Chad Baird, footwear buyer for Great Outdoor Provision Co.
END, whose name stands for Environmentally Neutral Design, recentlymade a splash by winning $250,000 in seed money in the Angel Oregoncompetition and by raising more than $1 million to launch their newshoe brand.
In addition to the new Southeastern stores, it has also landeddistribution deals with REI, a national retail cooperative, andZappos, an online shoe retailer with more than a million pairs ofshoes in stock. REI will sell the shoes in three locations: In itsflagship store in downtown Seattle, in Portland's Pearl Districtlocation and online at REI.com .