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Fashion Editor
Layne Christensen

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Mase:

ROOTS IS a Canadian success story.

By Layne Christensen
rE Og
Fashion Reporter

When Toronto-based entrepreneurs Michael
Budman and Don Green started their company in
*73 they had just one store and just one product.
the negative-heel shoe. Today, the manufacturer-
retailer boasts annual sales of $100 million and a
diverse product iine sold in over 100 Roots stores
throughout North America and the Pacific Rim.

‘The company’s phenomenally successful Roots
Beaver Athletic logo is an intematicnally recog-
nizable symbol ~- one that conjures images of a
Canada unspoiled by urban sprawl and decay, a

Photo submitted

Canada rich in natural resources,

At the root of this success is Budman
and Green's extraordinary ability to cap-
ture the essence of a lifestyle ideal, repack~
age it and sell it back to a leisure-craving
public in the form of leather goods, sweat-
shirts, and weekend wear. The pair have

~ built their success on selling Canada to

ourselves and to the rest of the world. That
it took two Americans to do so, is typical of
the Canadian propensity to undersell our-
selves.

Budman and Green grew up in Detroit.
Summers spent at Camp Tamakwa_ in
Ontario's Algonquin Park sweetened the
boys on the great outdoors. The two

became fast friends. Both the
friendship and the allure of
Algonquin have endured.

At Roots headquarters in an
industrial district of Toronto,
Budman and Green share an

NEWS photo Terry Peters

office that doubles as a show- THE TERRY towel dress and mini-Roots knapsack, here in white but also avaii-
room. Behind Budman's mas- able in pastels, highlight the Canadian manufacturer-retailer’s talent for produc-
sive wooden desk is a floor-to- ing fashionable yet comfortable clothing and high-quality leather goods.

_ ceiling photo of Algonquin’s
Smoke Lake. Family photos, many
snapped while relaxing by the lake
(Green’s cabin is one mile from
Budman's), dot the walls.

Even after such tremendous growth,
Roots remains a family business.

Green's wife Denyse managed the
first Roots store. Budman’s wife Diane
Bald, an architect, designs all new
Roots stores. Their young children (the
Greens have three; Budmans, two) have
appeared in Roots Kids ads.

The Kowaleski brothers (Henry.
Karl and Richard), whose father Jan
was commissioned to manufacture the
first Roots product in °73, run the
leather factory that adjoins Roots head-

.quarters in Toronto. The Roots team.

also encompasses 1.000 employees who
work in the design, retail, manufactur-
ing and wholesale facets of the busi-
ness.

Whatever item can be manufactured

"THE ROOTS Café bag....a far cry from the Roots in Canada is. Roots leather shoes, boots,

staple, the rugged rucksack.

° KITCHENAID « CHANTAL © ALL-CLAD «

Giving Comfort
‘Back Supports
_ Contoured Pillows

Giving Support
Waikers
Canes
Giving

Independence

Scooters
Bath Lifts

Mothers' Day
Gifts that
_ keep on —
Giving .

* VIELRI VICTORINOX KNIVES « KITCHEN LINENS «

- Home Care Products ©

1186 Marine Drive

jackets and bags are assembled in the

7

Toronto factory. The facility boasts state-of-the-art
equipment and model working conditions. A row
of boxes containing finished sweatshirts are
marked with the logo of a breakfast cereal. They
have been recycled.

In 1994 the Roots team posted its best sales to -

date — more than $100 million, In 1995, the sights
ure set even higher. An aggressive expansion pro-
gram will see 10 new stores open in Canada by the
end of the summer. Three of those stores are in
B.C. (Prince George, Burnaby and Lanyley).

’ The Roots line of merchandise is not just indus-
trial-strength feather knapsacks and logo-laden
sweats, though these items have been consistent
top sellers. Some of the more fashionable items
from the Roots spring/summer line include the
Café bag, a ladylike structured handbag; the mini-
Roots, 10 different leather bag styles in miniature;
T-shirt dresses, shorts and skirts in terry towel jer-
sey; and for men, striped tees, henleys and polos
worn over baggy shorts. :

For junior Roots fans there is Baby Roots,
Roots Kids, and Roots Boys and Girls, a clothing
and accessory.collection for kids aged nine to 14
that is new this year. ;

e 1HNSH STING ° LANAITId + 3HWMNOOS SVTLV ©

other locations.

se RD

‘To Our Park Royal Customers

Many thanks for your patronage over
the past 20 years and your thought-
ful words during our final days.

It will be a pleasure to see you at our

at Pemberton
North Vancouver

990-9422

ale] arc singer

Landsdown Park
270-1228

; Oakridge
266-6411

; Pacific Centre
- 689-3136.