KangaROOS Sneakers

First time I heard about KangaROOS sneakers, I thought it was some Australian running shoe manufacturer that was so successful that it got known worldwide.

Well, huge was my surprise when I discovered that it has nothing to do with Australia. They don’t even have a store down there.

KangaROOS are running sneakers manufactured in the good ol’ America. They’re advertised as “The Original Shoes with Pockets” and for a very good reason: back in 1979, architect Bob Gamm, an avid jogger, kept running into the same problem: whenever out to do his daily track, he didn’t have a place to keep his house keys and a few dollars, just in case.

KangaROOS Sneakers

So he set out so solve his issue by designing a pair of sneakers with pockets for these sorts of things. He came up with a really good shoe and, since the 70s was the decade that jogging swept the nation, he founded KangaROOS to sell them to all joggers who had the same problem.

In the 80, KangaROOS sneakers were endorsed by professional athletes, such as Walter Payton, Clyde Drexler and Ozzie Smith and gained momentum. With a successful marketing, the brand grew and could improve the firm’s technology. One such technology was Dynacoil which was developed in collaboration with NASA and was incorporated by numerous sneakers manufacturers throughout the world.

KangaROOS Sneakers In the 90s the ROOS took over Europe and expanded the number of products to a complete apparel lineup.

For their 30^th anniversary, KangaROOS launched a Walter Payton Limited Edition Collection which features design elements that remind of the shoes that Walter “Sweetness” Payton endorsed back in the 80s.

3 Comments

Lindsay Cash

11/02/2011

There is a picture linked to this website of shoes that I’ve been trying to find EVERYWHERE! Unfortunately…. I can’t find the style associated with them to track them down. The image posted is of a pair of feet crossed at the ankles with Bright orange and yellow kangaROOs on. Do you have any info on these shoes like style name ect so I can try to keep finding them!?

Any help appreciated…keep up the great work!
-Lindsay

Lic23@musc.edu
Rosamond Bovey

02/04/2011

I love KangaRoos shoes for their fit and their look, but seem to be unable to find them anywhere in my size, preferably in the Magnolia model. Any thoughts. By the way, European websites seem to have more Roos in general, is there a US distribution problem, maybe?
Eugen

02/04/2011

Wow, I thought you were joking, but I can’t find them anywhere. There’s nothing on ShoeBuy, Endless, Zappos, or Amazon. Hell, even eBay ran out of them. I found something on Buy.com though. I don’t know if you like the colors or themthey have your size, but you should check it out. They’re here and here.