On a Monday morning in May, I was walking around the Summit Safety Worksite in Vancouver.
There was a group of people gathering in the gym, a small gym that is part of the downtown Vancouver Community Centre.
I was looking for something for my dog, and noticed a pair of black, black leather hiking shoes on a table.
It was hard to believe that a company with a $50 million market cap could make such a thing for $10k.
The shoes had a little more than 10 years of history, and were made in Japan, a country with a history of making safety shoes.
But they were a new shoe, and one I wasn’t expecting to see.
When I saw them, I didn’t think twice.
“They’re really beautiful,” I told my wife, when I walked up to her.
“I just love them.”
The shoes are from the company called Summit Safety, which manufactures footwear in China.
The company, which is headquartered in Shenzhen, China, is the world’s third-largest manufacturer of safety shoes after Nike and Adidas.
Summit Safety is an international footwear company, with over a dozen countries, including the U.S., Australia, and Japan, and it also has factories in Canada, Australia, South Korea, Germany, and South Africa.
The world’s largest manufacturer of high-end safety footwear, Summit Safety has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years.
In 2017, Summit began manufacturing its own footwear in Canada and Australia.
It’s a significant development in the global market for safety shoes as consumers increasingly demand quality footwear that fits their needs.
Summit says the goal is to continue to expand its global footprint and bring safety products to a wider audience.
“We see the market growth as a way to increase our reach to a broader customer base,” Summit Safety CEO Adam Bate said in a recent interview.
“It’s about having the most affordable products in the world that we can sell to a global audience.
We want to give people that experience, which makes sense given that we have a lot of people in the U, U.K., and Japan.”
When the company was founded in 2001, the focus was more on safety, Bate explained.
“When we first started in 2001 there was a lot less attention to safety in the outdoor footwear world, and we really tried to keep things that people want in the outdoors.”
In the years since, the company has expanded to include a wide range of brands, from lightweight hiking shoes to more rugged footwear, like the Ultra Lightweight Airborne Shoes.
“The first thing that we’ve learned from our success is that people don’t want a shoe that they don’t need, so we have tried to focus on making a shoe for everybody,” Bate told CBC News.
“And in doing that, we’ve also learned that people also want a product that fits perfectly into their lifestyle.”
Summit’s safety expertise is shared by other brands.
In 2016, Adidas acquired Summit Safety for $1 billion.
The deal is one of Adidas’ largest acquisitions, and the second largest acquisition by an international brand in 2017.
Summit’s founder, Yu Sun, says he was inspired to create a product after meeting an older man who owned a pair that he thought was perfect for his son.
“He said, ‘Why don’t you make this thing for your son?'”
Sun told CBC’s Marketplace.
“So we did.
We’ve been making a product called the Ultra-Lightweight Air Airborne Shoe for about five years now.”
Sun and his wife have also created the company’s own line of footwear.
The Ultra-lightweight Airborn Shoes are made of durable nylon, with a cushioning foam inside.
The Airborn shoes are designed to fit people who are a little taller, and they can be worn with a sock, hiking boot, or hiking shoe.
“A lot of times people will wear them with a hiking boot and it’s going to look good,” Sun said.
“But with a shoe, it’s actually really good to be able to walk around and have the comfort of that shoe.”
The company has created a line of shoes for the popular hiking boots, which are known for their durability.
“Our goal with the Ultralite Airborn shoe is to give you a shoe with a very low impact, which you’re not going to see with most other shoes,” Sun explained.
When you walk, you’re walking on the ground.
“With a hiking shoe, the sole is the first contact you make with the ground,” Sun told Marketplace.
He said that the shoe’s cushioning is so soft that it feels like you’re wearing a shoe made of leather.
“That’s the first step for us.
We try to create something that you can wear on your foot with a socks or a hiking boots.”
Summit also offers a line called the Airborne Waterproof Shoes.
It offers a comfortable, lightweight shoe for walking, but it’s waterproof, meaning