Search online for "hate crocs" and you’ll quickly see why Crocs inc. is eager to transcend the clunky clogs it unleashed on an unsuspecting world 11 years ago. Bloggers have denounced Crocs as ugly and an escalator tripping hazard. On YouTube, a woman cuts a yellow pair into pieces and then feeds them to a blender. A Facebook page is called "Let’s Burn Crocs!"
CEO John McCarvel is all too aware of the Crocs animus and how it complicates his strategy to attract new customers and double sales in five years. The clogs still generate 47 percent of sales because lots of people like them, especially medical professionals and kids. Yet to hit his target, McCarvel must persuade the haters to buy the company’s other footwear. That’s why Crocs is telling the world all about its wedges, sneakers and leopard-print ballet flats – and putting Crocs in the back of stores the way grocers do with milk.
Crocs plans to open 90 locations around the world this year with about half in Asia, where sales jumped 34 percent in the first quarter. That would boost total locations by 20 percent to more than 500. Crocs had about half that in 2011.
(Source: Jakarta Globe )