TOMS

Our Story

We’ve always been in business to improve lives.In 2006, TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie pioneered the One for One® model. The program was giving away one pair of shoes for every pair sold which supporting other programs. Programs such as larger health, education, and community development programs through strategic partnerships.

Today we give ⅓ of profits for grassroots good. Since the beginning of TOMS, our community has made a positive impact on over 100,000,000 lives. We’re far from finished. Take a look at some of the highlights over the years.

Blake Mycoskie visited Argentina in 2002. He returned on vacation in January 2006, and met a woman who was volunteering to deliver shoes to children. Mycoskie offered to help and has cited the shoe distribution experience, as well as the many shoeless children he encountered, as the birth of his idea for his eventual company.

FREE SHOES

He decided to develop a type of alpargata (slip-on shoe, popular in Argentina) for the North American market. The goal being to provide a new pair of free shoes to youth. The youth includes Argentina and other developing nations for every pair sold.  According to Mycoskie,  the lack of shoes was a major contributor to diseases in children.

Upon returning to the U.S., Mycoskie sold the online driver education company that he was running. He sold for $500,000 to finance Toms Shoes.

The company name is derived from the word “tomorrow,” and evolved from the original concept, “Shoes for Tomorrow Project.” Mycoskie initially commissioned Argentine shoe manufacturers to make 250 pairs of shoes. Sales officially began in May 2006.  After an article ran in the Los Angeles Times, the company received order requests for nine times the available stock online. 10,000 pairs were sold in the first year. The first batch of 10,000 free shoes were distributed in October 2006 to Argentine children.

The company launched  “One Day Without Shoes” event, which encouraged participants to go shoeless for one day.  This was done to raise awareness about the impact shoes can have on a child’s life. The event has had corporate sponsors such as AOL, Flickr, and the Discovery Channel.

In October 2007, Toms Shoes received the People’s Design Award. This was determined by an online popularity contest by the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

GLOBAL BRAND

By 2011, over 500 retailers carried the brand globally and in the same year, Toms launched its eyewear line. By 2012 over two million pairs of new shoes had been given to children in developing countries around the world. The Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative at the University of New Mexico has described the company as an example of social entrepreneurship.

The company launched TOMS Roasting Co. in 2014. With each purchase of TOMS Roasting Co. coffee, the company works with other organizations to provide 140 liters of safe water. The water goes to a family in need that lives in a coffee-producing region. In 2015, TOMS Bag Collection was launched to help contribute to advancements in maternal health. Purchases of TOMS Bags help provide training for skilled birth attendants.  It also distributes birth kits containing items that help women practice safe childbirth.

In June 2014, the company announced that Mycoskie was looking to sell part of his stake in the company. He did it to help it grow faster and meet its long-term goals. On August 20, 2014 Bain Capital acquired 50% of Toms. Reuters reported that the transaction valued the company at $625 million. Mycoskie’s personal wealth following the deal was reported at $300 million. Mycoskie retained 50% ownership of Toms, as well as his role as “Chief Shoe Giver.” Mycoskie said he would use half of the proceeds from the sale to start a new fund to support socially minded entrepreneurship. Bain would match his investment and continue the company’s one-for-one policy.