Bruised Feet Leads to Purchase of Hiking-Shoe Firm

SEATTLE — Menno van Wyk isn’t one to let the competition run away from him.

As chief executive officer of One Sport Inc. in Seattle, van Wyk saw a niche for specialty outdoor boots and trail-running shoes, and he stepped up to take advantage of it.

About five years ago, van Wyk and his son were on a weeklong backpacking trip doing the Bailey Range Traverse through the Olympics. They rented top-of-the-line footwear for the trip, which they knew would be taking them off-trail a good part of the time.

“After the first day, we were following goat and cougar trails,” he said. “By the end of the trip, my feet were like hamburger.”

His tendons and bones were so bruised, he could hardly walk. So when he saw an ad for boots a short time later that said, “Footsore No More,” he couldn’t call the company fast enough.

A financial analyst for Weyerhaeuser at the time, he ended up not only buying the boots but the whole brand.

Brenco Enterprises was going through some reorganization and was looking to sell its One Sport line. Van Wyk put together an investment group and bought it in 1993.

“I always had an idea about running my own business, and this seemed like the ideal opportunity for me,” said van Wyk, an avid outdoorsman who likes having an excuse to wear wool shirts and hiking boots to the office.

Now when he calls for conferences with customers, he tries to work in a hike together, and holds his meetings on the trail.

That personal approach has helped build a loyal following among mountaineering enthusiasts and trail runners.

“He’s focused on a few key areas and has been a smart niche player,” said Bob Woodward, president of SNEWS Inc., a company based in Bend, Ore., that tracks trends in the outdoor retail industry. “They have a well-priced, well-designed mountaineering boot, and they’ve also become known for their trail-running shoes.”

Indeed, One Sport was among the first to design a shoe specifically for trail running, a hybrid sport that requires a shoe with the built-in support of a hiking boot and the lightness of a running shoe.

Trail running includes everything from jogging on grass through parks to running up mountains on hiking trails, and it’s been growing in popularity, said Andrea Gabbard, who writes on gear for Outdoor Retailer.

In a Runner’s World survey, for example, 81.3% of respondents said they now do off-road running, compared with 78% in 1994. The company also has converts from the sport of “ultrarunning,” where competitors run 50 miles or more over rugged terrain.

“There is really nothing out there durable enough for trail racing,” said ultrarunner Bill Cuculic of Tucson, Ariz., who has won the Pueblo Nuevo 50-mile race for the last four years. “One Sport is the only company that has put the effort into filling that niche.”

Although ultrarunning is a relatively small segment, the overall market for outdoor rugged footwear, including mountaineering boots, is growing steadily.

“The demographics are in favor of it,” Woodward said. Aging baby boomers are increasingly turning to the outdoors for recreation, from mountain-biking to birdwatching, and are looking for good support in their shoes and boots to prevent injuries.

That increased interest has been a boon for companies like One Sport, which has been able to make inroads against major players in the shoe business.

In a recent Snow Country magazine, One Sport’s trail-running shoe for women was ranked No. 1 in its category.

So far, word-of-mouth marketing has helped kick sales from $1.7 million the first year to $5.3 million last year.

“We think we can keep the same pace and should be able to become a $25-million to $30-million-a-year company,” said van Wyk, who has about a dozen employees getting shoes out the door of his warehouse just south of Seattle.

Since taking over the brand name, van Wyk has expanded the line to more than 20 different models, ranging from about $95 to $285, and has increased the focus on women’s shoes.

One Sport was among the first in the industry to design a shoe using a women’s “last”--the foot form used to model a shoe--instead of a shortened version of a men’s last or a modification of boy’s sizes, said Gabbard. As a result, its shoes have been especially popular with women, a fast-growing segment of the market.

Not everyone wears them for actual trail running or mountaineering. A lot of people use them for casual wear, van Wyk said. “Even when people are not doing something outdoors, they like to be reminded of it.”