Vans, Inc.

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The Vans logo.

"Vans" redirects here. For other uses see Van (disambiguation)

Vans, Inc., originally known as Van Doren Rubber Company has been, since 1966, a Southern California based manufacturer of sneakers, skate shoes and other shoe types catering primarily to the active youth market. They market heavily in the surfing and skateboarding areas. In more recent years, Vans has marketed additional items such as clothing and skateboarding accessories.

In the 1980s, Vans lost much of its core customer base when the company started producing baseball and football shoes. The corporation was forced into bankruptcy in 1984. Four years after emerging from bankruptcy protection, investment bankers McCown DeLeeuw Company bought Vans and went public in 1991.

Vans had opened retail stores containing large indoor skate parks, with the first location opening in 1998 at The Block at Orange. This skate park as well as the one in Orlando are the only two that remain open. Former locations of Vans skate parks include Ontario Mills, Moorestown Mall, the Plaza at King of Prussia, Carnaby Street in London, and Potomac Mills.

In 2004 the company was acquired by VF Corporation, manufacturers of Lee and Wrangler Jeans for $396 million.

Vans also sponsors the Vans Warped Tour, a punk/ska music and extreme sports festival since 1995.

[edit] Vans Shoes

Vans are most popular for their shoes and trainers. They are highly popular with the rock/skate/punk scenes, and also the demo scene. They are second most popular in these scenes, after Converse. Vans have also become popular over the last 2 years for re-introducing the slip-on range. Most commonly seen are the checkered slip-ons. Where Vans used to appeal to mainly the rock scene, the slip-ons are more popular with other scenes.

[edit] Musical Reference

The Pack, a Bay Area rap group, released a song with the title "Vans" in 2006 talking about the shoes with the phrase "Got my Vans on but they look like sneakers".^[1].
Ska/punk band The Suicide Machines released a song entitled "The Vans Song" on their debut album 'Destruction by Definition' which details their love for the brand.
In the Propagandhi song "Rock For Sustainable Capitalism," the Vans' Warped Tour is referenced with the following lyrics: "I hear this year's Vans' Warped Tour is going green, I guess they heard that money grows on trees. I hope they ship those ****** bands overseas, like they did the factories."
"Punk Rock 101," by Bowling For Soup says "My spiked hair, your new Vans"
"Rock Show," by Blink 182 - "Couldn't wait for the summer and the Warped Tour"
"Warped Summer Extravaganza (Major Excellent)," the hidden track on Oh! Calcutta! by The Lawrence Arms is a reference to the band's (rather negative) experiences on the Warped Tour.
Vans have also been dissed in the song "**** Vans" by Drino Man, which is a parody of the song "Vans" by The Pack