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Struck with global supply chain issues, footwear brands and plenty of industries saw massive delays beginning in 2020 that spilled into the next few years, however, those with the capacity to produce goods in the US felt some relief from this. No one benefited more from this in the footwear space than New Balance who for decades has produced sneakers across five facilities in Maine and Massachusetts and assembles more than 4 million pairs per year in the USA. On top of the good PR and freedom from logistic nightmares overseas, New Balance is benefitting massively from the recent hiring of Teddy Santis to lead their MIUSA and seeing an increase in demand - meaning they’ll need to expand to keep up. To answer this uptick, the Boston-based footwear brand has just announced its investing $65 million to expand one facility in Skowhegan, Maine.
This news comes less than a year since the latest US facility was opened in Methuen, Massachusetts, though this expansion will make the Maine facility the largest under NBs wing. Included in these plans are an additional 120,000 square feet to the existing factory, adding 200 jobs to the already 250-person deep facility and renovating 20,000 existing square feet. As previously stated, the entire MIUSA has seen a massive uptick in demand with ALD’s founder Teddy Santis taking over and recently announcing a Season 2 to his collection with the label.
As of now, the plans to renovate and expand the Skowhegan, Maine factory should be complete in late 2024 although parts of the expansion will be available starting in August. With this and likely further expansion in the region, expect to see more and more Made in USA footwear options from New Balance in the future. Keep it locked to our Twitter and the Sole Retriever mobile app to stay updated on the latest releases, raffles, news, and more in the sneaker and streetwear world.
