When James Van Doren and his older brother Paul opened their first store in Anaheim in 1966, they were selling their signature thick rubber-soled Vans shoes for $5 a pair.
The price and the extra-sticky grip of the soles appealed to one particular group of customers, according to Steve Van Doren, the son of company co-founder Paul.
“Skaters loved to wear our shoes because they were $5,” said Van Doren, who is now the vice president of events and promotions at Vans Shoes.
“And if they wore out one shoe faster than the other because they were dragging one shoe to slow down their skateboards, my dad and Uncle Jim would let them buy just one shoe for $2.50.”
Turns out some of those first customers would become the skating world's most influential pioneers.
“Skaters like Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta were buying our shoes even before we were paying skaters to wear Vans,” Van Doren said.
“They adopted us, so we adopted them.”
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Giving back to the community and the customers is still very much a part of Vans’ company culture, and according to Van Doren, they are values that were passed down to him from his father and his Uncle James.
James Van Doren, who ran Vans from 1976 to 1984, died Oct. 12 at his Fullerton home after battling cancer for four years.
“He was the chemist, machinist, and innovator,” Van Doren said.
His uncle made sure Vans soles were thicker than the ones found on other shoes on the market, according to Van Doren, so that “no matter what, their shoe was going to hold up much longer than any of the others.”
While the style of Vans shoes has changed through the years, fans commenting on Van Doren’s death expressed their appreciation for the shoe’s original design.
“Thanks for real grip on shoes,” wrote Twitter user SkateboardMag.
"RIP Jim Van Doren. Forever the soul and sole of skating," Tweeted the Surfrider Foundation.
James Van Doren is survived by his wife Char, sons James, Mark and Eric, brothers Paul and Robert, sister Bernice, and five grandchildren.
A memorial mass for family and friends will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Juliana Falconieri Church, 1316 N. Acacia Ave., Fullerton.
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