During the early sixties, Randy’s had become the third largest manufacturer of shoes in the US. But they had a factory in Gardenvale California that was losing a million dollars a month. Paul Van Doren, his brother Jim Van Doren and long time friend Gordon Lee were given the task of straightening out the factory, and after 8 months they turned the west coast factory around and it was doing better than the one back in Boston.
Three months later Paul Van Doren sat his five kids down and announced he was quitting his job to start a new shoe company.
where it all started THE VAN DOREN RUBBER COMPANY Paul Van Doren was born in 1930 and grew up in the Boston Area. When he reached the eigth grade, he realized he didn't like school and promptly left. He had a passion for horses and at the age of 14 and a half made his way to the race track. He was known as 'Dutch the Clutch' and for a buck he would give you odds on the race. Paul’s mother couldn’t stand he wasn’t working or going to school. She dragged him into the shoe factory where she worked and got him a job making shoes and sweeping the factory floor. This was to define the young Van Doren’s future.In twenty years, Paul worked his way up the ranks and became the Executive Vice President of Randy’s, a Boston based shoe manufacturer.
Paul moved west to Southern California with his partners, Jim Van Doren, Gordy Lee and Serge D'Elia. The first official day of business was March 15, 1966, when the first Vans shoe store opened in Anaheim, California. The company was formed with Paul and Serge owning 40% each and Jim and Gordon owning 10% each. It took a year to set up the factory at 704 East Broadway in Anaheim. It was built from scratch using old machinery the bought from all over the USA.
They offered three styles of vans shoes on that first day, but had only made display shoes. The racks on the wall were stacked with empty boxes to help make it look like a shoe store. Twelve customers came into the Vans store that morning and picked out the style and color of shoes they wanted. But they didn't have any shoes in stock so Paul and Gordy asked the customers to come back in the afternoon to pick up their shoes. They rushed back to the factory and made the shoes. When the customers returned in the afternoon to pick up their shoes, they needed change for their purchases. Paul and Gordy hadn't thought of this and didn't have any change available. So, they just gave them the shoes and asked them to come back the next day to pay for them. All 12 customers showed up the following day to pay for their shoes.