Altra Pricing/Release Dates

[C. Beth Run.]

Altra's blog has this announcement:

After over a year and a half of design, engineering, hard work, and testing, Altra Footwear is coming to fruition. Below are the release dates and pricing for all of Altra’s shoes:

The Instinct and Intuition – $94.99 April 2011

The Adam and Eve – $89.99 April 2011

The Lone Peak Men’s and Women’s – $99.99 April 2011

Two new models soon to be announced:

The Samson and Delilah

The Provision and Provisioness

Of course this price is kinda high, pretty much in line with standard running shoes. But compare it to the Evo & it suddenly sounds cheap! Since Jimmy's seen some of the shoes at his event a few weeks ago, maybe he can let us know if he feels it's a justified price. If the quality is such that they'll hold up a long time, I think I'll be willing to pay it--I'm excited about these shoes!!

Their website has photos on it now too; check those out. (The Adam & Eve are the most-minimal ones.)

And they have videos for their various shoes--here's the one for the Adam & Eve. Looks pretty great!!

 

[txtenderfoot]

Got to see Jimmy yesterday

Got to see Jimmy yesterday sporting a pair of Altra's (Instincts?). He likes them a lot, and I especially liked that they had an obviously roomy toebox.

 

[Nyah]

While the price is too high,

While the price is too high, the bigger problem is that the Atom/Eve won't be available when it's needed. If Altra wanted to get a secure spot in the market, they'd be getting those shoes out to us right now.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

That is so true, Nyah. 

That is so true, Nyah. Several of these new minimalist shoe makers are missing out in so many ways. They could have competed to be some of the first on the market, they could have pleased the many barefoot and minimalist runners needing footwear this time of year, and they could have racked up the dough, and they could have been included in the BRS's Minimalist Footwear & Buyer's Guide, but no. Where are they? Poor planning on their part.

 

[C. Beth Run.]

I TOTALLY wish these were

I TOTALLY wish these were available now; I think I'll like them better than my VFFs and I could have just bought Altra instead! Honestly though, I think there are a lot more minimalist runners than pure barefoot, even in the summer. So I think if they can really get their name out there, they'll still have a great market in April.

 

[LavaRunner]

 wow, it looks like the Lone

wow, it looks like the Lone Peak got thicker.

 

[PKFFW]

If the extra $10 for the

If the extra $10 for the online price is for shipping and there is no extra shipping charge then that is fine. If not, then for those of us in Australia(and elsewhere overseas), having to pay $10 more for the privilege of buying them is a complete and utter rip off!

I was hugely excited about these and the upcoming Zems running shoe but unless the online price changes to match the store price, my decision just got a whole lot easier.

 

[Jimmy Hart]

I have to say I whole

I have to say I whole heartedly disagree with some of you. Nyah and TJ you are wrong on some points. If you read their post you will see that they have been working to get these out for a year and a half. It's not easy to just jump up one day and suddenly have a shoe company. You will be glad they worked as long as they did to get these shoes right! Too many of you want stuff just popped out so you can have something but at what cost? If the products get rushed out without due diligence then all of us zealots will trash them and then what will we have? That's right a bunch of bankrupt shoe companies for us to be complaining about for different reasons than you are now.

Now that I've said my piece on that part I will say I disagree about you saying the price is too high. Where does this assessment come from? Their minimal offering, the Adam and Eve, are below the entire market at the moment aside from one model of the VFFs and Invisible Shoes so how are they too expensive? I just do not get where all the minimalist runners are coming from with these insane demands on minimal shoe pricing. Just because they have a thinner sole doesn't really mean they are that much cheaper to make, ship, distribute, etc.

With that said this company has nailed it completely clean on the head and will soon be offering you an amazing product that is worth every stinking cent that you currently believe is too many. Having a pair of Instincts sitting next to me and having worn the Adam on my foot for a short walk and jog I can tell you that they are seriously high quality as well as freaking comfortable. Scoff at the timing and the pricing all you want but you are, in my opinion, misguided in doing so.

I will soon be posting an in depth review of the Instincts which are not minimal but really great shoes and not long after that I will clue you all in on the Adam and you can decide for yourselves but Altra is and will be a contender no matter when they decide to allow you people to purchase thier products.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Too many of you want stuff

Too many of you want stuff just popped out so you can have something but at what cost? YOU know ME BETTER than that, Jimmy!

I wasn't a part of the cost discussion. In fact, I am a libertarian, and if you know what that means, you know I'm all for free market. A company should have the right to charge whatever amount they want for their product. At the same time, they should also be prepared to accept less purchases of their product.

This is what I said: Several of these new minimalist shoe makers are missing out in so many ways. They could have competed to be some of the first on the market, they could have pleased the many barefoot and minimalist runners needing footwear this time of year, and they could have racked up the dough, and they could have been included in the BRS's Minimalist Footwear & Buyer's Guide, but no. Where are they? Poor planning on their part. I said several, not every one of them. And yes, much of it is poor planning. Shoe companies have been sitting on the sidelines watching the show, not really sure how the "movement" would play out, waiting to see how the market reacts to other offerings before they jump on in and stake a claim, and now that the market is leaning toward minimalism, they want to play too. For some of them, they are a little late.

This sounds a little catty, don't ya think? Altra is and will be a contender no matter when they decide to allow you people to purchase their products. I'm sure that's your talking and not their talking.

 

[txtenderfoot]

 I'm just wondering if

I'm just wondering if they'll come out with adventure racing shoes called "Doesn't Ask for Directions" and "Asks for Directions"

 

[deviantrunner]

 The price point for the

The price point for the Adam & Eve's is right in line with the Vibram Fivefingers. While I think VFF's are a tad expensive, it is only appropriate that I am disappointed with the price point on the Altra's. However, based on the apparent high number of VFF's that Vibram is selling, Altra is making the right business decision with regard to price. The "right" price is basically whatever someone is willing to pay vs. whatever the company is willing to sell the product for. They are going to sell a ton of these things, but I don't see them overtaking VFF. That being said, I prefer the look of the Altra's (Adam/Eve)... VFF has an advantage with certain segments though... climbers, for instance. I think the "toes" give them a marketing advantage with climbers.



As far as the cost of manufacturing and shipping is concerned... I agree with your points Jimmy. Shipping containers are based on container size and not weight... so let's call shipping a wash between all the manufacturers. Manufacturing costs... well... I expect all of these are made in China, so... whatever their costs are... they are likely not overly high.



Margins are likely high and the late-comers (everyone chasing Vibram) are likely basing most of their pricing decisions on market level pricing that is already in play. People... you can expect to pay no less than $80 for any of these minimal shoes coming out in the spring. That is my opinion... Maybe ZEM will rock the boat and upset the price cart. But then again... why should they? Vibram has already proven that people are willing to pay the price. I am a cheap bastard, so I will likely remain barefoot... and frankly... will probably be better for it.



...my 2 cents...

 

[ajb422]

 I think the Altra's are the

I think the Altra's are the first ones I've seen that I'd be cool with paying 100 dollars for. My issue with paying that much for the New Balance or the Merrell ones are that they already have the systems in place to make shoes relatively cheaply. If I can buy a pair of new balance with all sorts of fancy stuff (which of course isn't good but still) for 60 dollars then why in the world are they making me pay 100 for he same shoe with less stuff in it. Same thing with Merrell. I can buy shoes with SOOO much more "technology" for the same price. It makes little to no sense in my mind for those companies to charge that price for them.

I would of paid that much for Vibrams if it wasn't for the d@mn toe pockets since they really were unique and probably a bit of a gamble, but when I saw the Adam/Eve I really thought that was exactly what they looked like and that made me happy. So long as they will last me a 1000 miles which will probably get me through many years I'm content to pay 100 to a small start up. They have a different set up costs than the big companies and I value that. But I feel ripped off by New Balance and Merrell. I really feel like they are just charging it because they can. Which is fine, I'm not saying thats a bad idea, I just prefer to give my money to people who aren't raking in as much overhead and still look like they paid more attention to what people actually want. Same philosophy applies if zem ever lets us see their new shoe.

I do wish they'd come out with them sooner though. I think my nikes might have to be retired for good this week and I could use a closed toe shoe for trails so I don't have to dig out dirt every so often. I'd totally even pay for the things to test them if it meant I could get them now.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Well put, AJB.

Well put, AJB.

 

[Jimmy Hart]

Catty? Do men do catty?  It

Catty? Do men do catty? It was written while in a more negative mindset so I will say this. TJ I did not mean to imply that you were included in the price talk but that I disagreed with the two of you and then I listed the two reasons why I don't think they planned poorly at all. Over a year and a half ago four guys started working on starting a shoe company...an entire shoe company and in two years time they will have an offering of four models with male and female specific shoes per model. I find that very impressive and know enough about the situation to know that if they could have had them out sooner they would have for sure. It should also be noted that once you get the final product set you have to then have a bunch of underpaid chinese kids make them all so that you can sell them. That takes time folks...just ask Nike (just kidding about the Chinese kids).

My other point remains the same in that you guys will be impressed with the shoes and they are worth the money.

I also apologize for taking liberties with my own thoughts but we have to stop attacking our own. Altra is a minimal friendly company and the guys behind Altra get it. They will offer one of the very best lines of footwear I've come across and the minimal side of their brand is outstanding. Every time a minimal shoe of any sort comes out we jump to judge and tear it down but at what cost and for what reason? If your point is that no human should wear shoes ever then that is fine and feel free to take your shots at all shoes out there. If you are interested in minimal footwear and want to see good offerings then you have to stop making it look like nothing will ever work and that what is offered isn't going to cut it. At some point a smart company will say the whole minimal thing is just a small market so forget about it and move on. Then we have nothing. Is this realistic? Maybe not but I hope you get the idea. We as an organization are trying to build an idea; a principle based on the fact that conventional shoes are not what the human body needs. If we crush every attempt put out for us to find a middle ground of protection, performance, and proper biomechanical assistance then we will get nowhere.

Embrace some of these small companies so that they can grow and maybe bring us what we are looking for.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

That is very impressive for a

That is very impressive for a small startup, Jimmy. I wasn't taking about them. I said "several" companies...

When you are posting, it would be best to state who exactly you are talking to because you keep lumping me in a group that I am not in, and you know me better than that.

 

[DNEchris]

Something else to be

Something else to be considered is the product development/buying cycle!

I am a buyer for a sporting goods company and, at the moment (December 2010), I am looking at, and considering placing orders for, goods that will not be in stores until August/September 2011. For us, minimalist runners, to be able to buy new, minimalist shoes now would have meant that the shoes would have had to have been ready to show to retailers' footwear buyers in January 2010 as the placing of orders by buyers like me is the middle of the process.

Initially someone has to have the idea, even if it is only trying to take capitalise on someone else's. Prototypes have to be created, tested, improved, tested again (and possibly again and again), they are then finally approved by the company, samples are produced, some for show, some for wear testing by influential activists like LPJ, Jesse and Jimmy, orders are received N weeks later, production planned, raw materials shipped to the factories, the goods are created, shipped to the manufacturer's warehouse and then shipped out to retailers for people like us to consider buying.

If you take the publication date of BTR, May 2009, as the beginning of popular interest in minimalist running and then allow for

a) the companies to recognise the potential market

b)come up with a concept to address that market

c) fully develop a product to meet that need

d) show it to stores' buyers

e) receive orders from those buyers

f) get the product manufactured

g) deliver it to stores

Then you might accept that the 20 months it has taken these new shoes to come to market is actually quite a short span of time!

Failing that understand that the second version of a product is generally substantially better than the first - and those second versions should be in stores for Fall 2011!

 

[miqie]

I think with all the minimal

I think with all the minimal shoes coming out soon, the market will determine the ultimate prices. Vibram can get the price for their shoe cause they're the only game in town for that style (Ok there is that other knockoff company, Gist, but for all intents and purposes, it's Vibram's show) . Once the market is flooded, prices will adjust accordingly and if the big boys really get involved with this movement, some of the upstarts will go under. Remember, this is still the early stages of minimal wear. What will the market place look like 5 years from now? I don't know, but I'm hoping by then, they'll be a lot of discontinued, overstocks, last years models, and outlet specials to bring the prices down to a more reasonable level. (Reasonable for me is $40 to $60). I think most will agree, it's hard being part of a movement's early stages where the supply has not caught up with the demand yet. Most of us cold weather dwellers are trying to make do with what we can find ie. water shoes, scuba booties, wool socks and huarches. I am currently using aqua shoes with wool socks and do not plan on spending any money on shoes until springtime. Course by then it's time for barefootin, so maybe I can delay until next fall, which will give me time to read all the user reviews on the springtime's offerings. BTW, that Altra Adam looks very enticing to me. Hope I can hold out till fall!

 

[dmcchesney]

This thread is a little old

This thread is a little old but an Altra Rep will be at the running store I shop at (btw they're very BF friednly and teach Good Form Running) tomorrow the 12th. I plan on getting there as soon as the rep does and introduce myself and give him one of my BRS cards to see if I can test a pair of there shoes, and maybe keep a pair. I will promise him/her that I will plug the shoes on here and tell him about all of the interesrt you guys are generating about them. If I can I plan on typing up my review on here for everyone to check out after the run.

 

[Jimmy Hart]

Good luck Chesney!  I already

Good luck Chesney! I already know and work with the guys at Altra and I have already reviewed the Instinct and will be posting a review of the Adam soon so I might be in your a way a bit but I hope you can score a pair either way. I'm all they way down in Texas so maybe they'll want some representation up in Michigan.

 

[dmcchesney]

Well I think the more

Well I think the more reviewes the better. I hope to get a pair, that would be sweet but I wouldn't care if I didn't.