KICKS

http://technorati.com/business/small-business/article/small-businesses-bring-together-charities-and/

 "Mycoskie created the concept of Tom’s Shoes, which sells a pair of shoes, and as part of the transaction a pair of shoes is donated to communities like the one he visited."

It's good to know that small businesses are beginning to integrate their mission with that of a charity organization.  Blake Mycoskie  who was the founder of TOMS shoes came up with this business/charity concept where the buyer of TOMS shoes would buy a pair and TOMS would donate  a pair to a person from another country who did not have a pair a shoes. Kill two birds with one stone right. Well, I am pretty sure everyone knows about TOMS and the concept but the intriguing part is the risk they decided to take in order to provide someone less fortunate a good pair of shoes. The question posed is why large companies have not taken an initiative of social action in such charitable form. When I speak of large name brand companies the few that come to mind are NIKE, JORDAN, ADIDAS, etc. Primarily, I just want to focus on NIKE, one because I purchase a lot of merchandise from them and Two, well, their shoes are so damn expensive. Now, let's take this into consideration. Nike, which has received controversial reviews for its use of sweatshops, [which by the way is another social issue.] sells these products at a high cost. As a rule of thumb, for the vast majority of consumer products, the "cost" of the product is roughly 25% of the manufacturer's suggested retail price.So if a pair of shoes costs $150 in the store, Nike sold them at wholesale to the store for about $75, and Nike's "landed cost" was roughly $37.50.  Which they make a good profit margin. However, what I am focused on is what has not happened in NIKE for them to consider giving back to society. Imagine going to a shoe store, you buy a pair of Nike running shoes for about $150 dollars. Then they tell you, because you bought a pair that really cost us around $38 dollars to make, we're going to go ahead and donate another pair to a child in need. Not only is it the right thing to do, as far as being charitable, but it would allow for this movement of "giving back" to occur. Now, I'm not saying NIKE is a bad company they have a shoe recycling and donating program but c'mon. Somewhere in there, somebody must think, Damn, some child does not have a pair of new shoes. It raises the question... What's more important...  making money or making a difference. -Pablo

http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/the-impact/about-shoe-recycling/shoe-recycling-or-shoe-donation