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Cole Haan is an American brand of men's and women's

footwear Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serve the purpose of protective clothing, protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from rough ground; stability on slippery ground; and temperature. *Shoes and si ...

and accessories that serves markets worldwide. The company was founded in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois, in 1928. Cole Haan currently has its headquarters in both New York City and Greenland, New Hampshire.

History

The company name comes from founders Trafton Cole and Eddie Haan, and was originally named “Cole, Rood & Haan” when the company was strictly a men's footwear label. Today it offers many products, including men's and women's dress and casual footwear, belts, hosiery, handbags, gloves, scarves, hats, outerwear, and sunglasses. Cole Haan was sold to a group of partners headed by George Denney in 1975. These executives built upon the foundation established by Cole and Haan over the following decade, transforming the label into one of the leading U.S. footwear brands. They launched a retail division in 1982, which comprised 40 plus stores worldwide and cumulative annual sales of nearly $70 million by 1996.

Nike, Inc. Nike, Inc. (stylized as ''NIKE'') is an American athletic footwear and apparel corporation headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, ...

purchased Cole Haan in 1988. During Nike's ownership tenure, Cole Haan produced a number of experimental designs and achieved critical acclaim. In 2004, creative director Gordon Thompson III received the Accessory Designer of the Year from the Accessories Council. Nike announced on May 31, 2012, that it was divesting Cole Haan and

Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are sold in over 100 c ...

to focus on the Nike brand and other complementary brands. Cole Haan was bought by private equity firm

Apax Partners Apax Partners LLP is a British private equity firm, headquartered in London, England. The company also operates out of six other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Munich and Shanghai. As of March 2024, the firm had raised and adv ...

Worldwide LLP for $570 million on November 16, 2012. Since then the brand has its headquarters in Greenland, New Hampshire, and its design center in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Jack A. Boys is its current

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. The Cole Haan Maine headquarters relocated from Yarmouth to

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

in summer 2011. In October 2013 it was announced that the headquarters would relocate to Greenland, New Hampshire. The company made plans for an initial public offering in 2021, but withdrew those plans after economic upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Retail stores

Cole Haan has over 300 stores with numerous locations in the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East. Cole Haan has one store in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and other than one location in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, does not have any other locations in Europe, nor any in Australia and New Zealand. Cole Haan sells its products worldwide through its own website and websites operated by international distribution partners. Cole Haan products are also sold at retailers such as

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a seco ...

, Shoe Carnival,

Zappos Zappos.com is an American online shoe and clothing retailer based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The company was founded in 1999 by Nick Swinmurn and launched under the domain name Shoesite.com. In July 2009, Amazon acquired Zappos in an ...

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Tay ...

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a Corporate spin-off, spin-o ...

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

and other department stores and independent stores in the United States, as well as through its own outlet stores found in outlet malls throughout the country.

Sustainability

On February 25, 2008, the company announced it would discontinue using real animal

fur A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

in its products for business and

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

reasons.Nike's Cole Haan to go fur-free

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

, February 25, 2008

Marketing

Cole Haan chose Russian tennis star

Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (, ; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 21 weeks. Sharapova won 36 WTA Tour-level sin ...

to headline its Spring 2009 and Fall 2009

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

campaigns.

Collaborations

Cole Haan has done collaborations with designers, athletes, and tastemakers including a men's footwear capsule collection with CFDA-nominated menswear designer Todd Snyder and a collection of women's ballet flats designed in partnership with three dancers of

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...

, Sara Mearns, Megan Fairchild, and Gretchen Smith.

References

External links

* {{Nike, state=collapsed Shoe companies of the United States Shoe brands Eyewear companies of the United States Eyewear brands of the United States Manufacturing companies based in New Hampshire Companies based in Rockingham County, New Hampshire Clothing companies established in 1928 Retail companies established in 1982 1928 establishments in Illinois 1988 mergers and acquisitions 2012 mergers and acquisitions Greenland, New Hampshire Apax Partners companies