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California Dreamer-Robert Greenberg November 30, 2015

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California Dreamer-Robert Greenberg November 30, 2015 FOOTWEARNEWS.COM / NOVEMBER 30, 2015 / @FOOTWEARNEWS WINNING BIG 20 15 The Achievement Awards Issue ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS 2015 MANOLO BLAHNIK MANOLO LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD ACHIEVEMENT LIFETIME ILLUSTRATION: STANLEY CHOW STANLEY ILLUSTRATION: 32 During the brand’s earliest days, Green- berg recalled, he went to Chicago for a trade California show, but the team didn’t exhibit in a booth. Instead, they rented a 1956 Ford Thunderbird and displayed the shoes on top of it. “I didn’t Dreamer even know how to make a second style,” said Robert On … Greenberg. Childhood ambitions: How Robert Greenberg But thanks to his knack for knowing what consumers want, the exec began to design a se- “Growing up, I wanted to be rose from humble beginnings to ries of hits. “We went from $70 million to about president of a company on the become one of footwear’s $600 million in two years. I love pushing it. It’s New York Stock Exchange. But lust,” he explained. I had to tell people I wanted to be most dazzling brand builders. Growth skyrocketed during the 1980s aero- president of the United States bics craze and Greenberg decided to take the because that seemed more at- company public. Investment banker Lloyd Greif was brought in during the process and almost tainable at the time.” By KaƟe Abel passed on the brand — until he met Greenberg. “He bowled me over,” recalled Greif. “The Earliest fashion first thing that impressed me was that he wasn’t experience: obert Greenberg is the an apparel or a footwear guy — he was a busi- quintessential tour guide. nessman, and a shrewd one, at that.” The banker “When I was a kid, my grand- On a recent afternoon, once helped Greenberg sneak into a Reebok road mother, mother, aunts and I the Skechers chairman and show — in disguise — to meet Paul Fireman and would go shopping for clothes CEO — who received the get an inside look at the competition. “We took every day. By the time I was in lifetime achievement award L.A. Gear public in 1986, and it was one of the 10, I had spent half my life in three hottest IPOs that year. It was a huge suc- at the FNAAs this week — Filene’s in Boston. So that’s paraded through his shoe cess story until the recession came along,” said kingdom in Manhattan Beach, Calif., proudly Greif, now Greenberg’s longtime friend and why I’m in the fashion business.” showing off every single one of the brand’s 19 adviser. product rooms, which are filled with an astound- By the 1990s, L.A. Gear and its fearless lead- Advice for someone starting ing 3,000 styles. Greenberg’s energy was electric er had worked with the biggest stars of the era, a shoe company today: as he tested out a Simon Says interactive kids’ including Michael Jackson, Paula Abdul and style in one space. In another, the ever-curious Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But the brand’s glory “Advertise. In this business, there executive marveled at the bold hues and intricate days soon faded, and Greenberg was forced to are so many talented people who prints adorning some new women’s sneakers. resign. make the most beautiful foot- Greenberg has always been driven by details “When I left L.A. Gear, I retired. That was it wear. But they don’t market. If I — for three days,” he recalled. On Monday at big and small — whether he’s examining the sole had $10 left in my checkbook, I of a shoe, digging deeply into a financial state- 8:30 a.m. after his Friday departure, he received ment or crafting the perfect ad campaign. On this a call from his son, Michael, who had also been would buy an ad. What else is particular day, he was eager to play a yet-to-be let go from the firm. going to save my life?” released spot starring Demi Lovato, featuring her “He used a two-letter word that changed my life. He said, ‘What are we going to do now?’” hit song “Confident,” plus several more commer- The tech revolution: cials. “I could watch these all day,” said the mas- recalled Robert Greenberg. “I said, ‘Oh my god, ter marketer, whose intense passion for business I’ll call you back when I wake up, and I’ll figure “I love technology. I can go so and killer instincts have built two powerhouse it out.’” fast with my iPhone today. When footwear companies over the last three decades. Soon after, the father-son duo began to suc- I started in this business, it took cessfully distribute Dr. Martens boots, though While he’s often heralded as one of the in- me two weeks to mail a sketch dustry’s most brilliant brand architects, Green- once again Greenberg saw more opportunity. berg, 75, never had grand plans to be in the shoe After about a year, he struck out on his own with to a factory. Now I can take a business. his first utility boot, and in 1992, Skechers was picture of a sketch and four sec- The executive grew up in Boston with a officially born after two of Greenberg’s children onds later, it’s in the sample hardworking father who owned a grocery store separately suggested the moniker, which is de- room.” and a tough-talking mother who was enamored rived from the word “skecher,” meaning a cool with fashion. Early on, he pursued a variety of kid who has lots of energy. endeavors, from hair salons and wigs to denim Since that fateful day 23 years ago, it’s been His reading list: and roller skates. a wild ride for Greenberg and the company, “I read two or three biographies During his travels to Asia, the young entre- which is set to cross the $3 billion mark this year preneur would sometimes stop over in Los Ange- and sell some 135 million pairs of men’s, wom- at a time, so if I get bored, I can les, and he began to daydream about how nice it en’s, children’s and athletic shoes in more than switch to another. Now, I’m read- would be to live there. So when a blizzard crip- 120 countries. ing [John D.] Rockefeller’s life pled Boston in 1978, the father of six packed up “I knew Skechers would be a success the day story; ‘The Hotel on Place Ven- his family and headed west. it started,” Greenberg said emphatically. “L.A. dome,’ about the Hotel Ritz in Around that time, Greenberg got into the Gear was my school. Skechers is my Picasso.” France during the Second World While there have been countless high points roller-skate business and visited a shoe fair in War; and the third is Johnny Car- Long Beach, Calif. “I saw everybody dressed up for the company, which posted its best-ever quar- in suits, and they all looked rich,” he said of his terly revenue, $856.2 million, for the period end- son’s life story.” initial attraction to the industry. Soon after, the ed on Sept. 30, there have been some difficult executive launched L.A. Gear with one style that days, too. Greenberg said, “The worst thing came in 10 colors. He’s never looked back. that’s happened was when Shape-Ups exploded. “I knew Skechers would be a success the day it started. L.A. Gear was my school. Skechers is my Picasso.” Robert Greenberg But we were still a very healthy company. We Greenberg’s infectious passion has made a just backed the car up and changed course.” huge impact on his son Michael, Skechers’ presi- When faced with challenges, the hard- dent, who has been working alongside his father charging CEO — who has an encyclopedic for three decades. memory — loves to repeat an expression he “The message I’ve always gotten from him is coined: If you make a mistake, that we can do anything. Nothing is out of reach do something. “Most people if you feel good about it,” said the younger pull back during tough Greenberg, who has the same fighting spirit as times,” he said. “I act. I don’t his father. “The industry is very competitive. We fear too many things.” just want to be better and smarter than the next After Shape-Ups, Green- guy. We’re not afraid to make mistakes. You just berg’s famous business in- have to go for it.” stincts kicked in. He sprinted That’s been the patriarch’s philosophy from into the huge and lucrative the beginning, according to those closest to him. athletic-performance sector. “[When I first met Robert in the 1980s], he threw Using technical know-how himself into everything he wanted to do,” said developed during the Shape- Skechers CFO and COO David Weinberg. “He Ups era, the company entered was all in, and he’s just as driven today. He car- categories such as running, ries everyone along with him.” walking and golf — all now Now, Greenberg is ready to bring everyone part of its Go performance along as he tackles his next big goal: doubling division, which alone is ex- the size of the company within the next five pected to top $1 billion next years. year. “So if we hadn’t had “Everything is taking off,” he said. “Our Shape-Ups, we wouldn’t have product is gorgeous. There’s no one in this indus- the Go division. And we’ve try who builds as many things as we do.” got so many things coming,” Greenberg said.
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