Crocs from China? Which Crocs are you wearing?

blogger — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:59:26 +0000

Don’t fall for a pair of fake Crocs

THEY say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but Crocs isn’t biting. Following a story in The Washington Post last July that reported “the impending demise of Crocs,” there has been a proliferation of fake Crocs from China flooding the Malaysian market, touting themselves to be the real deal with marked down prices.

Described by some people as “bizarre gardening shoes”, the colourful Crocs was an overnight success, having sold 100 million pairs in seven years.

However, given the current worldwide recession, the company took a beating in 2008 and one financial commentator, Damon Vickers, who manages an investment fund at Nine Points Capital Partners in Seattle, went as far as to say: “The company’s toast.’’

The real thing: When viewed up close, you can see the difference in the logo between the real and fake pair of crocs (the fake is on the right).

This, apparently, is far from the truth, as the financial results for the second quarter (Q2) from Crocs announced last month that the innovative footwear brand is still going strong, contrary to the mischievous rumours.

While it was true that the company was in the red and downsizing at one point, the latest results were highly satisfactory with revenue in Asia up 30.5% in Q2 of 2009 from Q2 of 2008, overcoming the initial challenges from rapid growth. Crocs has also completely repaid the US$17.3mil (RM60.5mil) borrowed under the company’s credit facility as of June 30 this year.

Due to the growing popularity of the brand, there has been a growing presence of counterfeit Crocs products. In the past, Crocs was not too bothered as the imitation products often bore different design elements, didn’t carry logos and were branded differently. These appealed to consumers who clearly knew that they were not original Crocs but were willing to accept the inferior quality by paying much lower prices.

However, thanks to market gossip of how Crocs is currently “stuck with a surplus of shoes” and “facing bankruptcy”, fuelled further by the Washington Post article, importers of counterfeit Crocs are having a field day.

The fakes come with hangtags, plastic bags, logos and embossed wording that is similar to original Crocs, and being sold as “marked down real Crocs” for anything between RM35 and RM100. These are often seen at night and morning markets, in residential areas and are also sold via several blogs and websites.

According to these pirates, the “original Crocs are now being sold cheaply” because the company is dumping stocks, to explain why they are now available outside of Crocs concept stores and authorised dealers.

The most often cited reasons are “Crocs owes its suppliers in China a lot of money, the company along with the China factory is closing down, and therefore the China suppliers are disposing of the shoes at cost to recover their money.” The counterfeiters use these excuses to justify why they only have limited colours and sizes compared to Crocs concept stores and authorised dealers.

Conversely, Kinderdijk, the official distributor of Crocs in Malaysia, says such rumours are unfounded and Crocs Asia is doing better than ever before.

“In fact, Asia was the first to come up with concept stores while Crocs were still being sold online, at small booths or in shoe stores along with other brands in the United States. This has stamped the idea that Crocs is a serious brand. The financial crisis is not so bad in Asia and our stores have been doing well as our marketing approach is more aggressive. Only now the States is going into concept stores as well,” explains managing director Gwei Tze-Co.

“Crocs is such an easy shoe to copy. The difference lies in the material used. The patented material Crosslite is odourless, slip resistance, anti-bacterial and offers unparalleled comfort in that it moulds to your feet. The fakes use really poor quality plastic and you can feel a difference when your wear them,” explains senior marketing manager Warren Chan.

The only other authorised dealer in the country is Pinang Medical Suppliers, and its stores carry similar models to those brought in by Kinderdijk as well as the Crocs RX (medical shoes) exclusively.

Altogether, there are 18 Crocs concept stores nationwide, and the shoes are also sold by authorised dealers at department stores like Parkson and Isetan which stock some exclusive designs. The only authorised factory outlet is located at the Mines Shopping Fair in Balakong, Kuala Lumpur, which sell out-of-season models at discounted prices.

“Any other ‘warehouses’, ‘online sales’ and unofficial setups touting to offer discounted Crocs are selling fakes. In fact, there is no way the factory in China could have ‘overruns’ or ‘rejects’ as there is never any excess of material supplied by the United States for the shoes. And, even if there are ‘mistakes’, these are recyclable, and thrown back in the mould and remade. In a worst-case scenario if the shoes are problematic, these are recalled and incinerated, and this has to be verified by insurance to ensure that things are properly done,” says Gwei.

Contrary to claims that Crocs is a one-shoe company, Crocs actually offers more than 120 styles of casual, comfortable footwear, including sandals, boots, heels, wedges and flats, along with the signature model, the “Beach”. Crocs also offers functional footwear for people who work on their feet, as well as products especially designed to help people who have foot or back problems.

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Crocs from China? Which Crocs are you wearing?