Business schools should teach the Hoka story

They did a really nice job of straddling the "hobby jogger" and soccer mom crowded as well as the more serious runner as well. Ten years ago I wasn't sure they were going to catch on and sort of dismissed them as gimmicky, but they've done a nice job hitting both markets successfully.

It does seem that in my area, a lot of the non-running types who would've been wearing Hokas three to four years ago are now wearing Ons. In the spirit of the thread, I'm curious to see how they develop as a company over the next ten years.

I think you are correct about Ons, they are every where

I wonder how much of Hoka's rise is due to changes in Nike's philosophy on selling. Nike pretty much abandoned the LRC but Hoka had reps out at stores (at least my LRC) letting people run in them and also being available.

The first pairs I saw looked dorky, but after my knee got really bad they are the best shoes for me (no more running sadly).

I wonder what happened to Newtons? I felt that Hoka, Newton, and On were on the same level and now I don’t see them at any local running shop. Why did they not take off like the other two brands?

Newton had (have? I haven’t tried a pair on recently since no one carries them anymore) a terrible step in feel. That lack of initial comfort (perceived or actual - really doesn’t matter which) isn’t going to allow them to cross over to the more casual runners and complete non-runners the way On and Hoka have.

Agree completely. They also brought the sculpted geometry to midsoles that the experts talk about, the super-stack foam, elf-heels, low heel drop, and the concept of a “rocker.” Most major brands have eventually copied in some form.

Just finished Jim Weber’s Brooks’ story. Like Shoe Dog, that’s def one book for the MBAs to study…. just running shoes and apparel - nothing else, and is #1 in running stores? How’d he do that?

I may be mistaken but wasn’t Hoka purchased by giant clothing/shoe company Decker Brands several years ago? Deckers makes UGGs, Teva, and all those other high performance (lol) shoe brands.

yes they were purchased. this was the infusion of capital that they needed to both expand and bring in additional recourses such as engineers, marketing, etc

As a fashion shoe, they're everywhere in my area. I see fewer people actually running in them.

First time I saw someone in Hokas, was before 2010, so probably the year they came out, I almost laughed they looked so big! She was going slow but looked fit so I figured they were some ultra cushioned recovery/injury shoe. And I guess they were (are).

You put your right foot in

You take your right foot out

You put your right foot in

And you shake it all about

You do the Hoka Poka

And you turn yourself around

That's what it's all about

I remember buying a pair soon after they came out in a desperate attempt to get over some injury issues. I felt really self conscious wearing them because they looked so stupid. They’ve been my go to shoe ever since.

HOKA was purchased by Deckers before I even signed with them (so circa 2013).

Seems to me that much of Hoka’s success over the past 8-10 yrs stems from simply leaning into (or not alienating) an unexpected sphere of demand that has expanded smoothly, uninterrupted and largely through word-of-mouth: non-runners seeking affordable comfort.

Newton's are available from their website and I ordered shoes directly from them from 2015-2019. The fit my feet well and I enjoyed training in them. They have three negatives. One is that the forefoot reaction pods can feel uncomfortable when the mileage of a run gets up past 9-11 miles (they may have improved that design more recently). The second is that those reaction pods make the shoes less comfortable for anything other than running. Three is that that they weren't suitable for heel strikers and weren't even optimal for midfoot strikers.

According to Wikipedia, the purchase date was July 1, 2013. Did Deckers make the big elite athlete push in 2014 when they also signed Manzano?

An interesting tidbit is that HOKA started the same year Born To Run came out and the minimalism craze started.

"non-runners seeking affordable comfort." this makes zero sense. You think Luis Grijalva and Jim Walmsley signed with Hoka to appeal to non-runners? Who have never heard of them? Nor would it make sense for elite athletes in striking distance of #1 in their respective events would want to wear such inferior technology (targeted at non-runners, for some reason).

If it wasn’t for ritz , goose, klecker, … you’d probably be on here projecting how cringe and embarrassing the ON brand is.