New Balance Turns to U.S. Manufacturing, Wants to “Control Our Destiny”

A New Balance store in New York | Credit: Mark Steele Photography (Columbus, OH)

New Balance (Boston) recently opened a new factory in Methuen, MA, a move that decreases the footwear brand’s reliance on the global supply chain, CEO Joe Preston told CNBC.

“It’s part of our overall mantra of controlling our destiny, which has really come into play in the last couple of years with Covid,” he told the outlet. “The supply constraints have certainly impacted our business, but we were still able to grow [revenue] over 30% in 2021.”

The new factory employs more than 90 people who produce the brand’s most popular running shoe, the MADE 990v5. In a release, New Balance said it plans to more than double the current workforce and production capabilities by the end of the year.

Including the Methuen factory, New Balance owns five manufacturing facilities in Maine and Massachusetts where approximately 1000 U.S. workers cut and mold athletic shoe materials, then sew and assemble them into the final product.

Read more at CNBC.

VMSD Staff

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