UNH history alum gains new respect for shoes

At 22, newly armed with a degree in history from UNH, Doug Clark took the best job he could find: product development at Exeter's Blue Ribbon Sports—later to become Nike Footwear. It wasn't until several years later, however, while working with industry newcomer Reebok, that Clark realized how his seemingly unlikely education benefited him uniquely.

"It was at Reebok when I realized I had insights that typical shoe designers and developers didn't have," Clark said. "Everything I had learned in the Nike lab had practical applications that I felt uniquely capable of implementing in new footwear designs."

Today, Clark is the CEO and founding partner of New England Footwear, a Newmarket-based startup that has used its foresight and innovative design to edge its way into the competitive footwear industry. The son of a UNH history professor and a nearly lifelong resident of Durham, Clark said his history education gave him a valuable, albeit unorthodox, approach to product design and development. Using historical precedents and fashion trends, Clark and his team work to tailor their products to the needs and wants of their customers—hopefully staying one step ahead of the competition. Sales in athletic footwear, he said, move in 12-year cycles, though globalization in the past couple of decades has begun to narrow this cycle to, maybe, 10 years. He knows; he's done the math.

"As a history major, I can tell you that it's fascinating to me how many people in the consumer goods markets want to think about what to do next season by going shopping today," Clark said, laughing slightly. "The only thing I can promise you is that what's selling today won't sell tomorrow."

Clark said that while his foresight has become an essential part of his business plan, it's not something that can come naturally; he does a huge amount of research. Clark knows precisely what percentage of his parents' generation will sustain injury from falling. He's building a shoe to provide them stability. He knows, on average, how many degrees a runner's ankle wobbles when his foot strikes the ground. That remedy's already on the market. Though he seems relaxed and at ease in the company's expansive conference room, it's apparent that Clark is always considering ways to improve his products.

Sitting forward, almost conspiratorially, Clark says that this research, coupled with knowledge of a wide range of historical trends and a penchant for product innovation, has helped his company to take off. He gets excited, setting down his coffee cup and waving his arms about, as he outlines a history of American footwear trends. He is almost breathless as he finishes, concluding, of course, that the company's shoes fill a void in the emerging market trend.

"It's been 12 years," he said with a shrug.

Going to a display rack of shoes in the corner, he explains that by analyzing the physical needs of each generation of consumers, he and his design team are creating shoes for every consumer. He cradles each shoe gently, even lovingly, and introduces them one by one, as if they were his children.

"Every company I've worked for says ‘we're going to make shoes for 18 to 24 year olds' and when I was 19 or 24 that was a fine thing for me," Clark said. "Eventually, you're 25."

Or 53, in Clark's case. Realizing that his own generation was the most affluent generation in history, as he puts it, Clark decided there was a big business to be had in creating shoes for himself and his peers.

Clark explained how the company has used proprietary technology that literally turns the construction of their shoes upside down. Picking up a rock and piece of green foam—the same type his outsoles are made of—Clark demonstrates how soft outsoles give far greater stability than the thick rubber to which we're accustomed. Already, he said, New England Footwear has used this concept in marketing their GoLite trail running shoes, and in the future they'll offer the same stability in a walking shoe aimed toward elderly buyers.
Conversely, he displays the rounded heel on his own pair of New England Footwear's Z7 loafers, a design that mimics walking on cobblestones. Studies have shown this to strengthen the leg muscles—precisely the wellness he and boomer generation peers are seeking.

Not only has Clark's unconventional education benefited him in footwear design, but he credits it with helping him crack into the business.

"The guy who hired me loved the idea of a liberal arts major," Clark said. "Because I was the guy who could kind of take care of the technical things and still write reports up that designers and developers—artsy people—could understand."

In 1980, Clark's college friend Tom Montgomery had landed an internship with Blue Ribbon Sports and encouraged Clark to apply. Though Clark chose not to follow Nike when the company moved to Oregon in 1985, the two reunited while working for Timberland in the mid-1990s, and Montgomery joined New England Footwear in 2008 as the company's COO.
"I think when Doug gets passionate about something, it's primarily about product and product concepts," Montgomery said. "The other aspects of business are somewhat looked upon as necessary evils, I think. He really gets passionate and excited when it comes to product ideas, product innovation, anything related to the product itself."

Clark is readily willing to admit this avoidance of typical corporate duties.

"We tend to stick to our specialties," he said, of himself and his two partners. "My passion is innovation and always trying to make something different and better."

This innovation is worthless if it doesn't reach consumers in a product they're willing to buy, he said. Luckily for him, Clark is pretty certain what his customers are looking for.

"You can't predict tomorrow by looking at today," Clark said, "But you can predict tomorrow by looking at the cycle and where it's headed and with that, I believe you can predict the future."