Crocs Will Outsource Manufacturing And Focus On Online Sales To Stay Afloat

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Photo: Crocs shoes in LA (AP Photo)
A Crocs store inside the Beverly Center shopping mall in Los Angeles.

Crocs are in a rough state. Not the shoes—which have always been a rubber lightning rod for fashion opinions—but the business itself.

This week the Niwot, Colo.-based company announced it was closing its two remaining manufacturing plants in Italy and Mexico by year's end and replacing its chief financial officer. Crocs is also closing less productive retail stores as leases expire and focusing more on online sales.

Footwear News editor Katie Abel talked to Colorado Matters about the future of Crocs. In short, the company will need to focus on online sales and its successful warm-weather shoes to stay afloat, Abel said. Humorous, high-fashion collaborations, such as the Balenciaga stiletto Crocs, will also help Crocs' reputation.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.