Mark Thatcher is the founder and owner of Teva, the company that has now become a well known name in the business of sandals. While working as a rafting guide in the Grand Canyon, he noticed that most of the boatmen wore athletic shoes or hiking shoes while in the river and he himself wore thongs or flip flops.

Both types of footwear have drawbacks as athletic shoes or hiking shoes got wet easily and the feet of the wearers got fungus and gravel while thongs or flip flops got off the wearer’s foot while running.

Mark Thatcher spent some time in designing a special sandal which had a nylon ankle strap for supporting the wearer’s feet but it was same as the shape of a thong. Fortunately, Velcro material was also invented at the same time when Thatcher was looking for a substitute for thongs. Velcro was used by him for binding the sandals with the foot of the wearer with a Velcro strap around the ankles. Once made this sample, he was aware that he did not have sufficient finances to start his own manufacturing process and thus, he needed to look for a manufacturer for his sandals.

In the first year of their production, he succeeded in selling only 200 pairs designed by him. This was because many people complained about the thong style straps of the shoes while some got blisters in between their 1st and 2nd toes due to the straps. In the following year, youngsters of America noticed these sandals as fashionable footwear and their sales increased over night.

During this period only, Mark Thatcher signed partnership with Deckers Corporation which finally got exclusive rights for the Tevas along with their patent for the basic designs. Deckers also got Tevas trademark as their brand name.

In the year 1988, Deckers re-designed the Tevas and developed a new system of strapping, producing the first model of the line named as Hurricane. This new system of strapping consisted of three parts: the heel strap, the toe post and side strap. The basic design of the Teva sandals manufactured today still follow the design of the Hurricane.

All the Teva sandals manufactured today are very comfortable on the feet and do not cause any problems to the feet of the wearer. The soles are made much harder because of which, they give better grip to the feet of the wearer, whether he is walking on a wet surface or he is in water.

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