Teva, one of the leading sandal manufacturers in the market today, was founded and is owned by Mark Thatcher. When he was working in the Grand Canyon as a rafting guide, he saw that most of the boatmen there wore hiking or athletic shoes in the river and he himself used to wear flip flops or thongs.
Both types of footwear have drawbacks as athletic shoes or hiking shoes got wet easily and the feet of the wearers got fungus and gravel while thongs or flip flops got off the wearer's foot while running.
Mark Thatcher decided to spend some time to design a sandal which was in the shape of a thong but had a nylon ankle strap to support the foot of the wearer. It was fortunate that Velcro material came up almost the same time when Thatcher was searching for an alternative to thongs. He used Velcro to bind the sandal with the wearer's foot with a strap of Velcro around the ankle. With this sample in hand, he knew that he did not have financial resources to start manufacturing these sandals on his own and that he needed to find a manufacturer.
Initially, only 200 pairs of sandals were sold in the first year mainly because people complained about their thong style straps. Some people also got blisters between their first and second toes because of the straps. Next year, American youngsters started finding them hot and fashionable and thus, their sales increased manifolds instantly.
During this period only, Mark Thatcher signed partnership with Deckers Corporation which finally got exclusive rights for the Tevas along with their patent for the basic designs. Deckers also got Tevas trademark as their brand name.
In the year 1988, Deckers re-designed the Tevas and developed a new system of strapping, producing the first model of the line named as Hurricane. This new system of strapping consisted of three parts: the heel strap, the toe post and side strap. The basic design of the Teva sandals manufactured today still follow the design of the Hurricane.
All the sandals manufactured by today provide ultimate comfort to the wearer and they do not cause problematic conditions for their feet also. The soles of these sandals are harder, thus providing better grip to the wearer's feet, no matter he is walking on wet surfaces or in water. - 29871
Both types of footwear have drawbacks as athletic shoes or hiking shoes got wet easily and the feet of the wearers got fungus and gravel while thongs or flip flops got off the wearer's foot while running.
Mark Thatcher decided to spend some time to design a sandal which was in the shape of a thong but had a nylon ankle strap to support the foot of the wearer. It was fortunate that Velcro material came up almost the same time when Thatcher was searching for an alternative to thongs. He used Velcro to bind the sandal with the wearer's foot with a strap of Velcro around the ankle. With this sample in hand, he knew that he did not have financial resources to start manufacturing these sandals on his own and that he needed to find a manufacturer.
Initially, only 200 pairs of sandals were sold in the first year mainly because people complained about their thong style straps. Some people also got blisters between their first and second toes because of the straps. Next year, American youngsters started finding them hot and fashionable and thus, their sales increased manifolds instantly.
During this period only, Mark Thatcher signed partnership with Deckers Corporation which finally got exclusive rights for the Tevas along with their patent for the basic designs. Deckers also got Tevas trademark as their brand name.
In the year 1988, Deckers re-designed the Tevas and developed a new system of strapping, producing the first model of the line named as Hurricane. This new system of strapping consisted of three parts: the heel strap, the toe post and side strap. The basic design of the Teva sandals manufactured today still follow the design of the Hurricane.
All the sandals manufactured by today provide ultimate comfort to the wearer and they do not cause problematic conditions for their feet also. The soles of these sandals are harder, thus providing better grip to the wearer's feet, no matter he is walking on wet surfaces or in water. - 29871
