BFS Reading Room

The Shoe Biz                                                                                                              

This section of our Reading Room is dedicated to books about the shoe business including tips on running your own footwear store, history of some of the big players in the industry and more.

Swoosh : Unauthorized Story of Nike and the Men Who Played There, The
by J. B. Strasser

The unauthorized national-bestselling sensation revealing the absorbing story of the rise, fall, and recovery of Nike, by a former employee and a Los Angeles Times reporter. "In the genre of business books, Swoosh is the Blues Brothers meet In Search of Excellence."--

Profitable Footwear Retailing
by William A. Rossi
 

Nike Culture : The Sign of the Swoosh
by Stephen Papson

This book is one of the first to take an in-depth look at how an advertising image works. It situates the Nike swoosh logo in terms of political economy, sociology, culture and semiotics. Nike Culture argues that contemporary society is, above all, a sign economy.

The Sneaker Book: Anatomy of an Industry and an Icon
by Tom Vanderbilt

The Sneaker Book is an entertaining, informative look at this fascinating, $II-billion-a-year industry. How (and by whom) are sneakers made? Where does your money go when you buy a pair?

The Complete Footwear Dictionary
by William A. Rossi

The Life of A.D. Brown: The History of the Greatest Shoe Merchant in the World
by John T. M. Johnston

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