Bootstrapping tales of an ordinary Joe

Book review of Shoemaker: The untold story of the British family firm that became a global brand

If I were to gift a pair of Reebok sneakers to my teenaged son, he may be pleased. But will he be thrilled? I doubt it. However, to those of us who came into our teens in the 1980s, owning a pair of Reebok or Nike sneakers represented material nirvana.

 My maternal grandparents’ home is in a town in northern Bihar. The Nepal border is about 50 kilometres away. One of the highlights of our visit to them was a trip to Birganj, the nearest town in Nepal. That ramshackle town’s cachet lay in the fact that you could satiate your appetite for phoren goods. Once the shopping was done, the purchases were handed over to a courier who delivered them to your home. It was through such an act of “smuggling” that I came to possess my first pair of foreign-brand sneakers. Alas, my joy was short-lived. Imitations were rampant then and the pair came apart within six months. Today’s young readers will find it hard to understand the yearning teenagers of those times felt for brands like Reebok and Nike, and the lengths to which they went to acquire them.

Until I laid my hands on this book, I was under the impression that Reebok is an American brand. That was later. But it was founded and nurtured by a Briton. Shoemaker is his autobiography.

Joe Foster’s grandfather had created the Foster line of shoes, which at one time regularly adorned the feet of athletes who climbed the Olympic podium. But constant squabbling between his father and uncle, and their complacency, caused this once-flourishing business to founder. When Mr Foster returned to the family business after a stint in the air force, he urged his father, without success, to take remedial steps. Utterly frustrated, Mr Foster quit, and along with his brother Jeff, started his own company.

The early years were a constant struggle for survival. Money was always tight. Mr Foster set up his factory in a derelict building with second-hand machinery purchased at auctions. Joe, Jeff and their wives all lived in cramped quarters on the factory premises. All of them worked. Since they couldn’t afford full-time staff, they hired an apprentice. They could not pay a full-time salesperson’s salary and so used those willing to hawk their shoes for a commission.

Then came the setbacks. After they had been selling under the Mercury name for a couple of years, they found that the brand name was owned by another company. Lacking the wherewithal to either buy the brand name or fight a legal battle with its owners, Mr Foster took the least expensive course of changing his brand name. Two years of effort that had gone into creating awareness and goodwill among shoe shop owners and customers thus went down the drain. Searching for a new name, he chanced upon the word Reebok — which  refers to a brown-coloured South African antelope—in a dictionary. Thankfully, no one had registered it yet. It was in such straitened circumstances that this now-illustrious brand was born.  

Shoemaker: The untold story of the British family firm that became a global brand 

Author: Joe Foster

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Pages: 312; Price: Rs 699

Mr Foster’s troubles on the patent front had, however, just begun. His patent agent suggested he should register the brand name overseas as well, so he  did so in the US, Japan and Europe. But the cost of registration was high. And when he delayed paying the patent firm’s bills, it sent him a notice for closure. Another solicitor, Derek Waller, appeared as a white knight at this juncture. He got the closure petition thrown out and saved the fledgling firm from extinction.  

 The early chapters are about the out-of-the-box approaches  Mr Foster adopted to keep his enterprise going. The middle chapters chronicle his struggles to establish a presence in the lucrative US market. That is another saga of endeavour, failure, and more endeavour until he finally manages to break in. In the final parts, he recounts how he spearheaded his company’s forays into foreign markets.

Reebok eventually became more successful than its founder’s wildest dreams and the boy from Bolton was able to rub shoulders with royalty and Hollywood celebrities. But success on such an epic scale came at a price.

 Mr Foster writes candidly about how his utter devotion to Reebok took a toll on his personal life and led to a rift with his wife.  Youngsters who plan to launch their own startups should read this book. It will disabuse them of any romantic notions they may harbour. Starting an enterprise on a shoestring budget may make for a good bedtime tale for the grandchildren, but is excruciatingly painful in reality. 

Mr Foster’s autobiography, however, will also give budding entrepreneurs the hope that if an ordinary Joe with extraordinary determination can build a world-class brand, so can they.