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When Jack Schwartz opened the doors to his eponymous shoe company during the height of the Depression, "urban" was a geographic, not a demographic, term.
Today, as the family-owned business celebrates its 70th anniversary, its core Lugz brand has become a mainstay of the hip-hop crowd. While product targeting an urban consumer may be a far cry from its roots as a men's and boys' dress-shoe house, the company has successfully evolved to meet the needs of an ever-changing fashion audience.
"Urban is now more of a sensibility," said Larry Schwartz, EVP of New York-based Jack Schwartz Shoes, about the success of the Lugz brand, which was introduced in 1993 and makes up nearly 90 percent of the company's $150 million business. "We have an urban edge to the brand. [Consumers] are buying it because we represent hip-hop and urban fashion."
Although the Schwartz family, with its fourth generation now involved in the company, might not seem like hip-hop types, they've made quite a few friends in the urban community. Lugz has been endorsed by well-known celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Funkmaster Flex, Baby aka Birdman and Erick Sermon.
In fact, the company was among the first to give a musician endorser a signature shoe: Funkmaster Flex's driving shoe, which launched in spring '03.
The Schwartzes learned early on that marketing plays a key role when...