The Washington Post posted a great article about New Balance’s fight to keep making shoes in America. I’ve never been a big NB fan but this story makes me want to give them another look:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...IQAZsq9eI_story.html
I had to change the title in light of all the posts below. Seems like SE Asia is the only place where high end running shoes are made.
Dave in Va
My NB Minimus are made in china
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The shoes you would want… are all made in China. They make a few token “elderly person” models in USA, but the vast majority are made in China.
On another note: The shoes from China come fully laced and ready to go, whereas the USA made shoes just have the laces thrown inside the shoe in the box…
Don’t get me wrong, the company is good… but lets not get ahead of ourselves and paint them as saving the American middle class.
New Balance still assembles many of their shoes in the US, but certainly not every shoe is. Most of their less expensive shoes are made overseas, as well as the minimus line. Still, they do manage to keep their lineup strong and not overly pricey while paying their workers decent (first world) wages.
Almost right…most NB technical (so NBx line running) are “Made in USA of Foreign/Imported Materials”. Manufactured in China, assembled in the USA. Shoes in this category: 1080, 880. 870, 860, 1260, 940, 1012, 1190, etc.
The 890 and Minimus are fully from China, though.
Josh, don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.
Everybody say it with me now “U-S-A!, U-S-A!!, U-S-A!!!”
Most of their top-end running shoes, and trail shoes, are made in the USA. And even the ones with off-shore materials assembled in the USA have more USA economic content than any other running shoe I know of.
Almost right…most NB technical (so NBx line running) are “Made in USA of Foreign/Imported Materials”. Manufactured in China, assembled in the USA. Shoes in this category: 1080, 880. 870, 860, 1260, 940, 1012, 1190, etc.
The 890 and Minimus are fully from China, though.
1080 - china
880 - imported goods from china
870 - imported goods from china
860 - china
1260 - imported goods from china
940 - china
1190 - china
I also love Minute Maid - FRESH SQUEEZED from concentrate
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new balance… still making inferior shoes
And still my grandfathers shoes.
The 1080s, 860s, 940s, and 1190s in my store all have the “made in USA of imported materials” bit. Potential for both to be happening?
What additional price would you pay to buy shoes made in the US (or your own country) made entirely of home grown materials? Say for instance the all Chinese version was $100. The shoes are in the store side by side and are identical but the home grown version costs more. At what point would you buy home grown vs the Chinese?
$110?
$120?
$150?
$200?
I don’t know what my own price point would be but certainly $10 or $20 would be trivial. I might spend $150 but it would be getting challenging there. Not that it will ever happen but its interesting to think about. There are certainly parallels with Chinese knock off frames that often discussed here.
Cheers,
Jim
Never pay over $ 50 for running shoes!
What running shoes do you get for under $50?
They’re not made in any of the 50 US states.
They are manufactured in a protectorate of the United States (Saipan), which enables NB to use the “Made in USA” label while manufacturing in a place with no worker protection or minimum wage laws.
So the NB factories in the USA are there for show? And the workers there are actors? NB does still make some of its shoes in the continental US.
So the NB factories in the USA are there for show? And the workers there are actors? NB does still make some of its shoes in the continental US.
I haven’t personally seen an NB factory in the US, so if you have then they’re there.
But they do make the shoes in Saipan, which allows them to use the “Made in USA” label while not having to worry about minimum wage laws or worker protection.
But this is degenerating into something that should be in the Lavender room.
I’ve seen the Lexington, MA factory in person. Didn’t go in, but its there. They have 4 others like it in MA and ME, too.
I switched to NB a couple years ago and and am happy that atleast some of their shoes are made in the US.