Crocs Actually Go Bankrupt. We Totally Called It.

By Ned Hepburn on July 16th, 2009

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And there they will stay.

After months and months of speculation (some of which occurred in the comment sections of our previous entry a few months ago where we totally called it!) it appears that Crocs, the shoe for people that apparently don’t care what they put on their feet or what other peoples eyes see, are finally going bankrupt.

In an economy so tight that it might as well be Al Green’s backing band, Crocs – once again, the shoe so heinous to look at that anybody with eyes could get violently upset and angry just by seeing a pair – have applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This should come as no surprise to people with taste or indeed people with no taste, as Crocs are terrible, terrible things, cast unto the great shoe store in the sky where nobody in heaven will wear them because people who are in heaven have good taste.

Ok, I’m being way too harsh. Apparently they were good for some things, like people who had illnesses (no joke, we got a few angry emails from hospital employees regarding our stance), or people in places that hated good fashion. Mario Batali – the big redheaded cook guy – totally swore by them. And he’s a cool guy. You can’t go wrong with what he says. So maybe they’re not so bad after all. But surely along with pant-suits and parachute jeans these will go the way of “why did we allow this particular item of fashion into our national collective”. It’s a sad, sad, sad world, but thankfully no-one will have to be subjected to seeing another pair anymore. From the Washington Post:

The company had expanded to meet demand, but financially pressed customers cut back. Last year the company lost $185.1 million, slashed roughly 2,000 jobs and scrambled to find money to pay down millions in debt. Now it’s stuck with a surplus of shoes, and its auditors have wondered if it can stay afloat. It has until the end of September to pay off its debt.

“The company’s toast,” said Damon Vickers, who manages an investment fund at Nine Points Capital Partners in Seattle. “They’re zombie-ish. They’re dead and they don’t know it.”

Again, I don’t see why you can’t just buy a pair of damn flip flops. People who wore Crocs looked like out of work Smurfs. Regardless, there they are, get them while they last. Crocs, we will miss you. We won’t really, but good luck wherever you end up.

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