Keen Footwear has opened a small factory in Portland with plans to make a small portion of its product in the U.S. James Curleigh, Keen's chief executive, told the Oregonian, “It's not so much flying our flag in America. It's about having sourcing options for the future.”
Keen has been making the “Portland Boot,” a steel-toed, lug-soled boot, at the Portland factory since October, according to the report. For production cost reasons,. the uppers for the Portland Boot are assembled in Asia and shipped to the Swan Island plant. The uppers are secured to the soles in Portland with finishing touches applied by hand and boxed in the plant for shipping.
Starting in 2011, three more styles will join the Portland Boot: the NoPo men's casual shoe, the Fremont men's casual shoe, and the Prescott women's casual shoe. Two more collections will be added in spring 2012 and another three in fall 2012. Nearly all of its 5 million pairs of footwear made each year come from one of five or six factories in Asia, according to the Oregonian.
In the article, Curleigh said Keen invested between $2 million to $3 million in the plant, which is being called PM Factory, for “Portland Manufacturing. While acknowledging that labor costs remain significantly lower in Asia, he pointed to several advantages in North American manufacturing: gaining proprietary knowledge and avoiding piracy risks, the prototype convenience from having a nearby testing factory, lower transportation costs and establishing a community presence.
A tiny American flag is expected to be stitched on some of the product. Because the boot uppers come from Asia, Keen can say only that the boots are “Built in America,” not, “Made in America.”
Keen moved its headquarters to Portland from Alameda, CA in 2006.
