Word: timberlands
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...Give Racism the Boot." That politically correct advertising slogan, combined with environmentally conscious products, has turned Timberland Co. of Hampton, New Hampshire, into a hot marketer and a torrid stock. With customers from suburban professionals to inner-city youths clamoring for its rugged boots and outdoorsy apparel, Timberland last month reported the strongest third-quarter sales and profits in its 20-year history...
...company is the happy beneficiary of a fashion shift: Timberland's classic waterproof boot has replaced Nike's Air Jordans as the look of choice for youths and young adults. And shoppers who come to retailers looking for Timberland's best-selling Weatherbuck waterproof casual shoes ($99) can also buy garments like men's full-length leather overcoats ($1,100) with the Timberland label...
Such success is new to the family-run company, which often had trouble getting its goods into the hands of customers and was little known in the U.S. outside the Northeast. Timberland began to hit its stride after chairman Sidney Swartz, 57, named his son Jeffrey, 33, chief operating officer in 1991 and gave him day-to-day responsibility for running the company. The younger Swartz opened new Timberland outlets and, better still, got the company's merchandise into the stores on time. Timberland now runs over 100 "Concept Shops" in retailers such as Nordstrom and Macy...
Wall Street, which loved the Timberland stock as much as consumers loved the Timberland look, had sent the share price up fourfold since January. (At the same time, the boot trend kicked Nike stock down more than 40%.) But last week Timberland stock dropped from 83 1/4 to 71 5/8 in two days before closing the week at 73. A report in Barron's suggested that the stock was overpriced and noted that Nike and other sneaker makers were rushing out their own lines of rugged footwear...
...gains made by U.S. exporters have begun to inspire some resistance overseas. In South Korea, which is suffering from a flagging economy, the government has staged what amounts to an official boycott of many imports. Japan in recent years has substantially increased its imports of American goods, ranging from Timberland shoes to Harry Winston jewelry, but trade tension resurfaced last week. The Bush Administration voiced fears that Tokyo, after making promises this spring to help reduce the U.S. trade deficit with Japan, is dragging its feet again. Said Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher: "I hope they are just testing...