Cover Story: Teva Teva gears up for autumn 2012 with a line of winter boots and revamped trail footw
n the last ten years, adventure footwear maker Teva has evolved from a performance sandal brand to a fully-fledged outdoor shoe company. The journey hasn’t been without setbacks, but with a team exclusively handling UK operations and an expanded product offering for the autumn 2012 season, the brand is planning to cement itself as a “365-day outdoor footwear brand” according to UK Country Manager, Chris Cavanagh. “Teva has made huge strides forward since taking back control of the distribution in the UK in January 2011” says Cavanagh. “We’ve invested in new people, streamlined our distribution and developed a winter line which we believe can help balance what was a heavily spring/summer biased business.”
These ambitions continue into their recently unveiled product range for next winter. Teva is concentrating on a full line of snow boots— technical and lifestyle—to sell directly to retailers. Cavanagh explains that competition on technical features has generally played out along the lines of grip and waterproof materials in the winter market. “While these are obviously critical for winter footwear, we’re introducing new considerations into the mix. How about weight? Snow boots that weigh as much as trainers—there’s something new. The Chair 5, our new flagship model, compresses down to fit into your hand luggage and weighs half as much as some alternatives. Those two benefits create value—especially for UK consumers—who are generally flying or travelling somewhere on the continent or further abroad for winter sport holidays. In this industry, we’re trying to shift points of competition to offer something unique and additional to existing offerings.”
While snow boots are a far cry from the sport sandals that made the brand famous, it continues to focus on developing efforts closer to its home. “The concept of innovation flows into each of our product categories—not just the new ones. For the hiking and walking market, we’re trying to meld the agility of trainers with the support and technical advantages of traditional trail shoes. This started with our MXT Platform and shoes like the Forge Pro. However, we noticed that people were also looking for something with a slimmer profile, so we created the ReForge. We’ve also decided to take an important step on water technology with the trail products. We will make a fully
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www.sgboutdoor.co.uk
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