ECCO
Ecco ended up in a perfect storm. As they did not stop operating in Russia, Danish people went their back to Ecco. Many companies also turn away from business with Ecco. Also one of the largest and most valuable warehouses, Magasin, stopped selling Ecco shoes due to the situation in Ukraine. ECCO Sko A/S is a Danish shoe manufacturer and retailer founded in 1963 by Karl Toosbuy, in Bredebro, Denmark. The company began with only the production of footwear, but has since expanded into leather production, as well as accessories and small leather goods. ECCO opened its first  retail store in Denmark in 1982. ECCO is family-owned and employs 21,300 people worldwide, with product sales in 99 countries from 2,250 shops and 14,000 sales points. History. ECCO was established in 1963 by Karl Toosbuy in the small town of Bredebro in southern Denmark. Throughout the 1980s, the company expanded its operations internationally. By 1982, sales reached 1 million pairs of shoes annually. In order to accommodate the increasing demand, additional production was established in Portugal, and under license in Japan and Cyprus. ECCO built its own research and design center, named "Futura", in Denmark in 1996, since  2009 Portugal is the R&D center of ECCO and opened its own beamhouse in Indonesia and tannery in Thailand a few years later. In 1998 the first flagship retail store opened on Oxford Street, in London. By 2000, ECCO owned every step of the production process, from design and leather production to branded retail sales. Production. ECCO owns tanneries in the Netherlands, Thailand, Indonesia and China. ECCO’s tanneries are among the leading manufacturers of leather to the fashion, sports, and car industries. ECCO has engaged in a research program to reduce the environmental impact of the tanning process. Approximately  98% of ECCO's shoes are produced in its own shoe factories in Portugal, Slovakia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and China, and some under licence in India. In 2016 Adidas filed a trademark suit against ECCO in USA Courts. However, in 2018, Adidas voluntarily dismissed its claims. International. ECCO shoes and leather goods are sold in 99 countries. The company has its operations into markets in Asia and in Eastern and Central Europe, Canada, South America, and the United States. Their products are sold through more than 2,250 mono-brand stores, as well as independent retailers and online sales. Criticism. Quality . In 1998, ECCO faced problems with a large quantity of shoes. Due to a production fault involving the composition of sole material – hydrolysis of the molded polyurethane – the soles disintegrated after only one to five years. After discovering the source of the problem, ECCO changed the composition of its sole material. Russia operations. In March, 2022, ECCO CEO, Panos Mytaros, decided, together with the board of directors and the family owners, to continue its operations in Russia despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, and despite a collective economic war including heavy sanctions directed towards Russia by the European Union and  USA.