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| Blake Mycoskie wearing shoe for vulnerable children |
Blake Mycoskie from Arlington is the founder of Toms
Company a company that gives a pair of shoe to an impoverished child for every
pair of shoes they sell. Read And Be Inspired….
Toms is a for-profit company
based in Playa Del Rey, California, that
operated the now defunct non-profit subsidiary, Friends of Toms. The company
was founded in 2006 by Blake
Mycoskie, an
entrepreneur from Arlington, Texas. The company designs and sells shoes based
on the Argentine alpargata design as
well as eyewear. When Toms sells a pair of shoes, a new pair of shoes is given
to an impoverished child, and when Toms sells a pair of eyewear, part of the
profit is used to save or restore the eyesight for people in developing
countries. Similarly, the company launched TOMS Roasting Co. in 2014. With each
purchase of TOMS Roasting Co. coffee, the company works with other
organizations that they refer to as “giving partners” to provide 140 liters of
safe water (a one week supply) to a person in need. In 2015, TOMS Bag
Collection was launched to help address the need for advancements in maternal
health. Purchases of TOMS Bags help provide training for skilled birth
attendants and distribute birth kits containing items that help a woman safely
deliver her baby.
How He Started
Blake
Mycoskie first visited Argentina while competing in the second season of The Amazing
Race with
his sister in 2002. He returned there on vacation in January 2006, and noticed
that the local polo players were wearing a form of shoes called alpargatas, a simple
canvas slip-on shoe that he himself began to wear. The shoes have been worn by
Argentine farmers for hundreds of years and were the inspiration for the
classic style of Toms shoes. They are made from canvas or cotton fabric and are
now manufactured in many styles including a cordones, botas, wedges,
stitchouts, and wrap boots. The sole is constructed of rubber. Later in the trip, when he was doing some
volunteer work in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, he noticed
that many of the children were running through the streets barefooted. After
discovering that a lack of shoes was a wider problem in Argentina and other
developing countries than just this one community, he decided that he wanted to
develop a kind of alpargata for the North American market, with the caveat that
for every pair sold he would provide a new pair of shoes free of charge to the
shoeless youth of Argentina and other developing nations. Mycoskie had learned
that the lack of shoes was a problem that had a serious impact upon these
youth, threatening the ability of the children to go to school, prevent
infection, and so forth.
He
took the idea to Argentine shoe manufacturers and began building the company
based on this idea, and initially made 250 pairs of shoes. The company first
officially began selling its shoes in May 2006. After an article ran in the Los
Angeles Times, the company received order
requests for nine times the available stock online, and 10,000 pairs were sold in the first six
months. The first batch of free shoes were distributed in October 2006 to
Argentine children; the number was equivalent to the amount of stock sold: ten
thousand. The company was self-financed, as Mycoskie sold his online driver education company for $500,000. to fund the
shoe company. The company name (TOMS) is derived from the word
"tomorrow," and evolved from the original concept, "Shoes for
Tomorrow Project."
In
2007 the company launched an annual "One Day Without Shoes" event
where adherents do not wear shoes throughout the day in order to raise
awareness for Toms' mission for clothing impoverished children. The day to
raise awareness has had partners such as AOL, Flickr,
and the Discovery Channel that help to promote the event. By 2011 over
500 retailers were carrying the brand globally; that year it also launched its
eyewear line. By 2012 over two million pairs of new shoes had been given to
children in developing countries around the world. The Daniels Fund Ethics
Initiative at the University
of New Mexico describes the company as "a
for-profit business with a philanthropic component”.
Where They Work
Ø Argentina,
Ø Ethiopia,
Ø Guatemala,
Ø Haiti,
Ø Rwanda,
Ø South Africa, and
Ø United States.
What They Do
Toms' business model has been referred to as
the "one for one concept" business model, referring to the company's
promise to deliver a pair of free, new shoes to a child in need for every sale
of their retail product. The countries to which the free products are sent have
included Argentina, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Rwanda, South Africa, and the
United States. The business has grown beyond producing shoes and has included
eyewear and apparel in Toms product lines. The company uses word-of-mouth
advocacy for much of its sales, centering its business focus on corporate
social responsibility. Part of this model originally involved a non-profit arm
called "Friends of Toms" that recruited volunteers to help in the
shoe distributions in foreign countries. Toms trademarked the phrase "One
for One" to describe its own business model.
When Toms sells a pair of eyewear, part of
the profit is used to save or restore the eyesight for people in developing
countries. TOMS Eyewear launched in
2011, and has helped restore sight to over 275,000 people in need. We give
sight in 13 countries, providing prescription glasses, medical treatment and or
sight-saving surgery with each purchase of eyewear.
Mission
The mission of Toms is that a business rather
than a charity would help their impact last longer with the aim of donating
shoes to the needy.
Achievement
Volunteers on shoe distribution trips are able
to hand-deliver shoes to children. In 2006, Toms distributed 10,000 pairs of
shoes in Argentina. In November 2007, the company distributed 50,000 pairs of
shoes to children in South
Africa.
As
of April 2009, Toms had distributed 140,000 pairs of shoes to children in
Argentina, Ethiopia, South Africa as well as children in the United States.
As of 2012, Toms has given away
over one million pairs of shoes in 40 countries.
Partners
In 2009 Toms
partnered with the Charlize
Theron
Africa Outreach Project to create limited edition shoes, using the profits to
benefit education and medical support to remote areas of Africa suffering from
AIDS outbreaks Toms has also produced shoes with a handlebar mustache symbol in
place of the traditional Toms symbol in support of the Movember
Foundation.
Toms is also a supporter of the charity charity:
water,
with which it partnered with over several years, including its WaterForward
project, aiming to bring clean water to underdeveloped countries through giving
on behalf of one's friends. An additional partner charity is FEED, whereby when
a consumer purchased a pair of shoes the company would donate twelve meals to
poor schools in addition to a pair of shoes for impoverished children.
Criticism
Toms has
received criticism from the International
Development community. For their 'Buy One, Give One' Model, who have charged that
Toms' model is designed to make consumers feel good rather than address
underlying causes of poverty. Criticisms have also included whether or not the
shoe donation is as effective as a monetary one to other charities. Tom's
founder Blake Mycoskie
responded to these criticisms in November 2013, saying "If you really are
serious about poverty alleviation, then you need to create jobs”. Blake said “At
first I took that personally, but then I realized that they were right... using
our model to create jobs is the next level." The company has announced its
plans to have one-third of all its shoes produced in countries receiving aid by
2015.
My Personal Discoveries
Following
this research I discover how the company name (TOMS) was derived from the word
"tomorrow," and evolved from the original concept, "Shoes for
Tomorrow Project."
Before this
research I have a single story of Toms Company which is “They sells shoes”. But
after this research have discovered that Toms Company are doing much more than
selling shoes. It was unknown to me that toms are making impacts with each
pairs of shoes they sell by donating shoes to needy children.
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