Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry of Method | photo by Suzy Poling
The year 2007 will go down as a historic one for Toyota, its 50th in the United States. The company won 16% of the American market -- more than double its share 10 years ago -- and passed Ford to take the number-two spot in U.S. car sales, despite an uncharacteristic slip in quality ratings. The company unveiled its next-gen Prius (due in 2010), a plug-in with a carbon-fiber body, but ironically, its most successful rollout was the redesigned Tundra pickup. Toyota sold 3,800 of the jumbo 18-mpg trucks per week this year -- 300 more than Prius.
When Beowulf hit theaters in November, it marked the dawn of the next -- some say ultimate -- wave of 3-D movies. Making the display possible was a California outfit called Real D, whose technology uses circularly polarized light from digital projectors, avoiding the eye fatigue of the old 3-D. Theaters are banking that the technology will stop the box-office slide, and Hollywood’s biggest players have projects in the pipeline. That’s not enough for Real D: “Our view is that 3-D images change the business on all visual displays,” says CEO Michael Lewis, who envisions Real D at home and even on mobile screens. The company is already experimenting with alternative content, from multiplayer in-theater video games to an NBA game converted into 3-D in real-time. A U2 3-D concert film (above) is out now.
Critics like to crow about Redmond’s stumbles. The struggling Zune. The Xbox 360’s “red ring of death.” And as for Vista, well, cue the clearing of throats. Then again, ever hear of a little game called Halo 3? And maybe you missed the biggest surpise to emerge out of the PR squall this year, the tabletop computer Surface, a foray into multitouch technology that rivals the iPhone in coolness. Windows and Office continue their dominance, of course, and Microsoft’s stock was up about 20% in 2007.
Last September, when actresses Sophia Bush (One Tree Hill) and Brittany Snow (Hairspray) landed backstage in Lela Rose’s showroom at New York Fashion Week, they swooned over the designer’s new shoe collection that was about to debut on the runway. Rose, best known for $1,500 frocks, happily handed pairs of navy peep-toe pumps and polka-dot round-toe pumps over to the young celebs, who would soon be flaunting them on the sidelines of the catwalk. “Did they know they were Payless shoes?” says Rose, who’s now designing her fifth exclusive line for the discounter. “Absolutely. They didn’t care. They looked cute to them and that’s all that mattered.”
Payless? Since when did the dusty dungeon of cheap footwear have anything to do with the front lines of fashion? Since 2005, when Matt Rubel, who previously turned around Cole Haan, took the helm of the now $3.5 billion company and decided it needed a design intervention. While the 4,500-store chain had thrived for years on the low-price, self-service model it pioneered in the 1950s, the last decade saw the company losing the discount wars to beasts such as Wal-Mart. If thrift was no longer its competitive edge, reasoned Rubel, then Payless would have to design shoes that Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw would drool over at prices Roseanne could afford.
To do that, Rubel has injected a fashion sensibility into every arm of the Topeka, Kansas–based company. Last year, he built its first design studio in Manhattan and recruited Robert Mingione, Kenneth Cole’s head of footwear, and Bernard Figueroa, top footwear designer for Michael Kors, to run it. Taking a cue from fashion democratizers like Target and H&M, he has lured up-and-comers such as Rose, Laura Poretzky, and Alice + Olivia’s Stacey Bendet -- even Sex and the City’s very own Patricia Field -- to design exclusive shoe and handbag lines that sell at higher prices and employ sophisticated materials such as silk crepe, snake skin, and perforated kidskin. At the retail level, Rubel has given a 21st-century facelift to the chain’s 1970s-hued stores with two new formats. He has opened 22 “fashion labs” -- more-upscale hubs, with modern décor bathed in pristine white, that offer the pricier fashion-forward lines -- and retooled nearly 400 existing locations with an airier design that puts trendy collections in the spotlight. “More and more women who never would have shopped at Payless are becoming Payless customers,” says Lori Holliday Banks, a senior analyst at fashion consultancy the Tobe Report. “Rubel’s reinventing the whole self-service business.”
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Recent Comments | 14 Total
February 17, 2008 at 6:48pm by john ralston
sorry if this is a repeat - not sure the last post went thru.
I was surprised to see Prosper in this article for several reasons. Among them is high default rates - below is information from Prosper's site showing that defaults are 4.24% for the highest rated borrowers and 45% for the lowest rated borrowers (note actual default rates will be higher since some of these loans are only six months old).
Prosper, unlike other 2.0 firms, has squelched input from the community by deleting all the old forum postings and putting in a new process that screens all comments. Screening is usually fine, but many posts do not make it thru - seems like Prosper does not want its community to be engaged.
Here are the stats - hopefully they will make sense with this cut/paste...
Estimated ROI Help
Performance metric AA A B C D E HR
Average lender rate 10.74% 12.69% 15.05% 17.78% 20.81% 24.03% 23.80%
Net defaults -4.24% -7.01% -11.72% -15.63% -19.09% -29.65% -45.55%
Adjustment (interest and fees) -0.22% -0.43% -0.76% -1.21% -1.72% -2.85% -4.29%
Prosper servicing fee -0.49% -0.48% -0.70% -0.68% -0.67% -0.56% -0.53%
Average annual return 5.80% 4.77% 1.87% 0.25% -0.67% -9.02% -26.58%
Sorry this is not more positive, but I want to make sure you had perspective from someone who has been (was) a long term lender on Prosper.
John R.
February 19, 2008 at 12:00am by Jeremy Fretts
It is ironic to me as a user of AutoDesk products to see them on this list. I suppose their success as a business, and as a technology innovator merits #25. However, it is worth noting that many of their users are at best begrudging at accepting their market dominance.
In ten years of architectural practice, I can't say that I've met ANYONE who truly loved AutoDesk's products. In many cases, they are in fact loathed.
True competition would serve the industry well-- someone needs to inspire improvements to AutoDesk's user interfaces, help documentation, and pricing structure.
February 20, 2008 at 1:08pm by Mike Adam
Tesco's 'Fresh and Easy?' How innovative can that be? Trader Joe's has been around for years, and the concept sounds the same. They sell organics for prices you'd normally see for non-organic/natural at the grocery store, have fresh meat and produce, and are indeed just slightly larger than a 7-11. And yet, Trader Joes' has just about everything you need. They had $1 cliff bars while everyone else still had them $1.50-2.00.
February 20, 2008 at 2:08pm by Brock Stout
I suppose that each company can be argued with, but Toyota's inclusion made me laugh out loud. They helped invent just-in-time manufacturing (decades ago), but everything else, including auto designs, has been copied from other companies. Even in Japan, Toyota is known as the non-innovator, "borrowing" from competitors. Like most American press representatives, Fast Company just prints Toyota press releases without editing them. Sorry, I can't possibly take you seriously in the future on any issue.
February 20, 2008 at 11:54pm by Christoph Spitzenpfeil
I have to add a similar comment to this article about the 50 most innovative companies. I agree on Toyota as a co-commentator did before. The Lexus cars and even the new Camry are just design copies of the real innovator in the Auto industry - BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche; all three dare new technologies whereas Toyota only deploys them when these new technologies have proven themselves in the market.
I am also missing companies in this list which are helping making our environment cleaner and more livable. Where are those companies - the wind turbine and solar panel manufacturers? I am sorry Google, video game companies & Co. do not belong on this list as innovators. The world would be as good or as bad as it is now with or without them! Last but not least it would be nice if this list would contain more companies - and there are really good ones - from outside the English speaking hemisphere. Innovation does not always have only to do with good balance sheets, more sales, more entertainment, and higher volumes; the world has more difficult issues to deal with than those. This is where the list of the 50 most innovative companies massively falls short.
February 28, 2008 at 2:24am by akram uddin
shoukathalle007@gmail.com
March 18, 2008 at 8:52pm by Kristen Wachsmuth
I was surprised and disappointed that Walmart made your list. They have to do more than market energy saving lightbulbs and teach employees about sustainability to be considered a company that is making an environmental transformation. What about all the wetlands and marshes and land that is being destroyed to build their behemoth supercenters right down the street from their current store? Selling 100 million light bulbs in nine months does not make up for that.
August 9, 2009 at 2:36pm by Sergio Mokko
In my opinion, deservedly dominate google and apple. 2 the most innovative companies. By Sergio
August 15, 2009 at 10:36pm by Todd McCalla
There are several companies that looked next to the Cool Springs Galleria that could easily fit into the worlds most innovative companies list. They are startups totally bootstrapping all operations with not one person taking a dime in salary. Williamson County Tennessee, primarily Cool Springs, is a petri dish for venture capital and bright minds.
October 7, 2009 at 9:38pm by cartier jewelry
Nice Post!!
October 20, 2009 at 10:16pm by dd dd
There are several companies that looked next to the Cool Springs Galleria that could easily fit into the worlds most innovative companies list. They are startups totally bootstrapping all operations with not one person taking a dime in salary. Williamson County Tennessee, primarily Cool Springs, is a petri dish for venture capital and bright minds.
http://www.uggboots365.co.uk
October 21, 2009 at 11:29am by Howard Carl
Nike's latest masterstroke is social networking, online and off. From events to the Web to unique retail hubs, Nike is blurring the line between brand and experience. jeep grand cherokee
October 21, 2009 at 11:29am by Howard Carl
Nike's latest masterstroke is social networking, online and off. From events to the Web to unique retail hubs, Nike is blurring the line between brand and experience. jeep grand cherokee
November 23, 2009 at 2:09pm by Faraz Alam
I am big fan of google. I like the way the company has evolved. They are seriously best at web.
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