Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
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S uperlatives PEOPLE, CULTURE, TASTE, STYLE VIEW FROM THE TOP converse-ation starter PRESIDENT AND CEO JIM CALHOUN USHERS CONVERSE INTO A NEW PHASE WITH A MOVE FROM NORTH ANDOVER TO THE BOSTON WATERFRONT. BY REBECCA M. KNIGHT J im Calhoun spent much of his boyhood at the gym on Huntington Avenue watching his dad, who was head basketball coach at Northeastern University, run team practices. Amid the sounds of sneakers squeaking and balls thumping on the hardwood floor, Calhoun idolized his father—yes, that Jim Calhoun—but his true heroes back then were the players. (It was, after all, Boston in the 1980s and Bird was the word.) "My dad's players were like my big brothers—they were who I wanted to be," he says. "They were the symbol of cool and they wore Converse. It's the first brand I can remember." That brand left an impression. Today Calhoun is the president and CEO of Converse, the century-old company best known for its Chuck Taylor All Stars, the celebrated shoe worn by star athletes and cultural icons such as Earvin "Magic" Johnson and James Dean. The company, which is owned by Nike, sells about 200,000 pairs of Chucks around the world each day and has sold countless millions in its history. "If that's not the best-selling shoe of all time, I don't know what is," says Calhoun, who took over two years ago, in May 2011. For the past decade Converse has been headquartered in North Andover, but in the spring of 2015 it will move its 400-plus employees to Boston, into a refurbished nine-story brick building on Lovejoy Wharf in the Bulfinch Triangle, fittingly located close to that mecca of basketball, the TD Garden. The move comes at a pivotal time for Converse. For decades the company dominated the athletic footwear business. But in the early '90s, Converse struggled to compete in a crowded market and eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2001. Rescued by Nike in 2003, the brand has slowly redeemed itself to customers and shareholders by eschewing jocks— leaving the high-performance sports shoes to its parent company—and focusing instead on hip, creative types like artists and musicians. "Converse kept trying to reinvent itself in the athletic space, and it couldn't compete," Calhoun says. "So we finally turned to the folks who were right in front of us: the creative community." After all, Converse has been a canvas, so to speak, for youthful selfexpression ever since bored teenagers in the 1950s began doodling on their Chucks during history class. The shoes have been immortalized in a Pop Art mural by Andy Warhol, and they've been a wardrobe staple of rock singers from Elvis Presley to Kurt Cobain to Justin Bieber. "While athletic performance can be measured in seconds, pounds, and points, creativity can feel a little bit squishier," Calhoun says. "But I feel it's every bit as real and every bit as much of an economic force as people's passion for competition." Marketing to these maverick customers, though, requires a subtle approach. For instance, the company has four stand-alone stores in the US— in Boston, New York, New Jersey, and Santa Monica, California—and will open a new one in San Francisco in June. The stores evoke a hipster vibe: They play new music from emerging artists. They feature sneaker customization stations, —JIM CALHOUN where shoppers can personalize a pair of Chucks using Converse's sneaker-printing technology. And they stock limited-edition Converse collaborations with high-end designers like John Varvatos and Missoni in unexpected colors, fabrics, and styles. "Our goal is to have a visit to our store be the most creative 20 minutes of your day," Calhoun says. "We want you to come away inspired." Business is on an upswing. In the 2012 fiscal year, the company recorded more than $1.3 billion in sales, a 17 percent increase from 2011—but Calhoun is keenly aware of the need to maintain momentum. A Boston headquarters will help Converse tap into the cultural mind-set of its customers and attract top design talent. "Boston is a very youthful, international, cosmopolitan place, with a lot of creative energy in the city around technology," he says. "It's a natural home for us." Calhoun, 45, is trim and fit and dresses in a preppy style. His trademark office uniform: jeans or khakis, a button-down shirt, and a Merino continued on page 52 PHOTOGRAPHY BY J.J. MILLER "Our goal is to have a visit to our store be the most creative 20 minutes of your day." BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM 050-052_BC_SP_VFT_LATESPRING_13.indd 51 51 4/10/13 11:29 AM