Two Charlotte-based organizations – one that uses running as a hook for well-being among girls and the other a sock company that promotes an active lifestyle – will partner on Saturday, which coincides with International Women’s Day.
Feetures will debut a limited-edition sock with a colorful design representing women from all backgrounds and pay tribute to Girls on the Run and its mission to promote physical health and self-confidence in young girls.
Feetures will donate proceeds from the sale of the “elite light cushion no show tab” sock to Girls on the Run. About 2,500 socks will be made, which will provide a $25,000 benefit to Girls on the Run, say John Gaither, CEO of Feetures, and Elizabeth Kunz, CEO of Girls on the Run.
“We think it’s special that both of us are based in Charlotte, and even though both of us have a national and global reach, that we’re both proud to be part of this community and have some shared mission,” says Gaither.
The two groups did a similar joint venture last year and the special sock sold out in a single day. The sock will be available on feetures.com.
Girls on the Run started in 1996 serving 13 girls in Charlotte, and now has 165 chapters across the U.S., and some in Canada, and serves about 190,000 girls annually, says Kunz, who joined GOTR in 1998 and has been in her current position since 2008.
The organization uses running as a “hook to help build their emotional health,” says Kunz. “We want them to realize that movement truly can make a difference in how they show up for life.” The program teaches resilience and the importance of standing up for yourself, she adds.
That message resonates with Feetures, a company that started in 2001 in the Catawba County town of Newton, where it still has its distribution center. The company, which catered to runners in the beginning, sold almost 6 million pairs of socks last year, producing about $50 million in revenue, says Gaither. It had 72 employees at the end of the year, including about 30 at its Charlotte headquarters.
The company was started by John’s father, Hugh. The Gaither family of Catawba County has a long history in the textile business, including Ridgeview, a ladies’ hosiery and sock manufacturing business in Newton, that closed in 2000 after almost 90 years of business. The bulk of Feetures’ products are made in Asia. John Gaither’s brother, Joe, is the company’s chief marketing officer.
Girls on the Run had net assets of more than $8.6 million at the start of 2023, a paid staff and about 540 volunteers, according to paperwork filed with the IRS in May. If all the independent chapters are combined, it’s a $50 million organization, Kunz says.
“We’re looking for partners that have a shared mission, so Girls on the Run is a perfect partner for us,” says Gaither. “They’re working to support young girls and encouraging them to run.”