Heelys rolling in popularity
By Dominic Genetti Journal intern | Posted: Tuesday, June 19, 2007
With a quick sprint from the back of his uncle's basement, Austin Fisher completes a mad dash, skating across the floor in his Heelys.
"You have to run, you go on your heels, then you kick and go," 8-year-old Austin said, explaining his technique on his wheeled shoes.
As a stroll through any shopping mall or department store will show, the popularity of Heelys and other brands of wheeled shoes is growing. At first glance they look like any other sneaker, but imbedded in the heel of the shoe is a removable wheel that goes into action with a simple lift of the toes.
Accompanying the desire to have the new wheeled shoes are concerns about how safe they are. Paul Coffin, a Sioux City podiatrist, says they're not. Coffin said that because the wheel is in the back of the shoe, wearers have a greater chance of falling backward and getting injured.
"If you're wearing roller skates or something, you're going to fall forward; then you'd use your hands to break yourself," Coffin said. "If you're going to fall backwards, you have nothing to stop you from falling, and you're probably going to land back on your head."
Coffin said children risk spraining an ankle or twisting a foot but that falling backward is the biggest risk. He said having the wheel in front would make the shoes safer.
"When we walk, our weight lands on the outside of our heel and then goes along the outside of our foot, then across the ball of our foot, so by the time we are needing to balance on our foot, our balance is really off the ball of our foot," Coffin said. "If they'd make the roller in the front, it would've been better because that's where natural balance tends to be."
The popular Heelys hit the United States in 2000. Last year, Heiden Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based product-safety and economics consulting firm, indicated wheeled shoes are safer than some common sports.
"What we looked at was the past six years of injuries," said Edward Heiden, president of Heiden Associates. "What our data show, wheeled footwear is one of the safest modes of outdoor recreation."
Compared with other sports and activities, the Heiden Associates study based on Heelys sales and wheeled-shoe injuries treated in emergency rooms in children ages 7 to 15 shows, roller skating, skateboarding, scooter riding, in-line roller skating, swimming, fishing and horseshoe pitching are more dangerous than skating on wheeled shoes.
Representatives of Heelys, headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, could not comment, given the company's current status in a "quiet period" with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mike Hessong, chief financial office for Heelys, said in a prepared statement that due to the company's registration statement on file with the commission for a proposed follow-on equity offering, the company declined to elaborate.
Meanwhile, sales of Heelys at one major shoe store are high. According to Elise Hasbrook, spokeswoman for Finish Line shoe stores, based in Indianapolis, Heelys are among the best-selling shoes for the store. Hasbrook called the wheeled shoes an instant success. She said she could not comment on sales in Sioux City or Iowa.
But it's clear that the shoes are selling here. Austin said he saw other kids with the shoes and, like any 8-year-old, he wanted a pair, too.
"I asked Grandma if I could have some," Austin said. "She just ordered online cause she thought they were so cool."
A simple "I love you" present, Debby Gries, 49, said. The shoes cost $80.
"They were very, very expensive," Gries said. "That's the sad thing, to make something the kids want and there's hardly anywhere for them to use them."
Gries puts the safety issues in perspective. "He can get hurt on anything, really," she said. "He so far hasn't had any falls. It took him a few days when he first got them to figure out how to stay balanced on them. If he's going to be going up and down any hills, he has a helmet. Safety's always important. You have to be (safety conscious) with everything."
While learning, Austin said he fell down a lot and ran into things.
"It was really hard to learn," he said. "I just get back up and do it again."
Although wheeled shoes can glide on many types of surfaces, Austin said smooth surfaces are the easiest to skate on. Linoleum and tile flooring in grocery stores, shopping malls and schools, he said, are better than concrete and asphalt surfaces.
"Sometimes there's bumps and sometimes rocks get caught up in the wheel," Austin said of the asphalt parking lot at school.
Given the attraction to smoother surfaces, stores and malls have banned skating on wheeled shoes.
In Sioux City, Southern Hills Mall's property manager Bill Haase said that although the mall's code of conduct does not specifically cite wheeled shoes, those caught using them on the mall property are asked to stop, just as skateboarders and roller skaters are.
Siouxland schools have also taken action on wheeled shoes due to safety concerns.
"There's no room for all that," said West Middle School Assistant Principle James Cline. "We don't allow skateboards, either."
Cline said students are allowed to wear the shoes as long as the wheels have been taken out.
North Middle and McKinley elementary schools also require students to remove the wheels from their shoes while on campus.
Austin is content to leave the safety debate to his elders. He knows this about his Heelys: They're fun.
A study last year by Heiden Associates, a product-safety and economic consulting firm in Washington, D.C., showed that wearing wheeled shoes is statisically safer than playing many common sports. The results in part:
56 times safer than basketball
38 times safer than bicycle riding
36 times safer than roller skating
34 times safer than soccer
32 times safer than baseball
25 times safer than softball
24 times safer than skateboarding
15 times safer than volleyball
9 times safer than scooter riding
7 times safer than in-line roller skating
6 times safer than swimming
4 times safer than tennis and fishing
3.1 times safer than badminton
1.6 times safer than horseshoe pitching
Source: Heiden Associates
"You have to run, you go on your heels, then you kick and go," 8-year-old Austin said, explaining his technique on his wheeled shoes.
As a stroll through any shopping mall or department store will show, the popularity of Heelys and other brands of wheeled shoes is growing. At first glance they look like any other sneaker, but imbedded in the heel of the shoe is a removable wheel that goes into action with a simple lift of the toes.
Accompanying the desire to have the new wheeled shoes are concerns about how safe they are. Paul Coffin, a Sioux City podiatrist, says they're not. Coffin said that because the wheel is in the back of the shoe, wearers have a greater chance of falling backward and getting injured.
"If you're wearing roller skates or something, you're going to fall forward; then you'd use your hands to break yourself," Coffin said. "If you're going to fall backwards, you have nothing to stop you from falling, and you're probably going to land back on your head."
Coffin said children risk spraining an ankle or twisting a foot but that falling backward is the biggest risk. He said having the wheel in front would make the shoes safer.
"When we walk, our weight lands on the outside of our heel and then goes along the outside of our foot, then across the ball of our foot, so by the time we are needing to balance on our foot, our balance is really off the ball of our foot," Coffin said. "If they'd make the roller in the front, it would've been better because that's where natural balance tends to be."
The popular Heelys hit the United States in 2000. Last year, Heiden Associates, a Washington, D.C.-based product-safety and economics consulting firm, indicated wheeled shoes are safer than some common sports.
"What we looked at was the past six years of injuries," said Edward Heiden, president of Heiden Associates. "What our data show, wheeled footwear is one of the safest modes of outdoor recreation."
Compared with other sports and activities, the Heiden Associates study based on Heelys sales and wheeled-shoe injuries treated in emergency rooms in children ages 7 to 15 shows, roller skating, skateboarding, scooter riding, in-line roller skating, swimming, fishing and horseshoe pitching are more dangerous than skating on wheeled shoes.
Representatives of Heelys, headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, could not comment, given the company's current status in a "quiet period" with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mike Hessong, chief financial office for Heelys, said in a prepared statement that due to the company's registration statement on file with the commission for a proposed follow-on equity offering, the company declined to elaborate.
Meanwhile, sales of Heelys at one major shoe store are high. According to Elise Hasbrook, spokeswoman for Finish Line shoe stores, based in Indianapolis, Heelys are among the best-selling shoes for the store. Hasbrook called the wheeled shoes an instant success. She said she could not comment on sales in Sioux City or Iowa.
But it's clear that the shoes are selling here. Austin said he saw other kids with the shoes and, like any 8-year-old, he wanted a pair, too.
"I asked Grandma if I could have some," Austin said. "She just ordered online cause she thought they were so cool."
A simple "I love you" present, Debby Gries, 49, said. The shoes cost $80.
"They were very, very expensive," Gries said. "That's the sad thing, to make something the kids want and there's hardly anywhere for them to use them."
Gries puts the safety issues in perspective. "He can get hurt on anything, really," she said. "He so far hasn't had any falls. It took him a few days when he first got them to figure out how to stay balanced on them. If he's going to be going up and down any hills, he has a helmet. Safety's always important. You have to be (safety conscious) with everything."
While learning, Austin said he fell down a lot and ran into things.
"It was really hard to learn," he said. "I just get back up and do it again."
Although wheeled shoes can glide on many types of surfaces, Austin said smooth surfaces are the easiest to skate on. Linoleum and tile flooring in grocery stores, shopping malls and schools, he said, are better than concrete and asphalt surfaces.
"Sometimes there's bumps and sometimes rocks get caught up in the wheel," Austin said of the asphalt parking lot at school.
Given the attraction to smoother surfaces, stores and malls have banned skating on wheeled shoes.
In Sioux City, Southern Hills Mall's property manager Bill Haase said that although the mall's code of conduct does not specifically cite wheeled shoes, those caught using them on the mall property are asked to stop, just as skateboarders and roller skaters are.
Siouxland schools have also taken action on wheeled shoes due to safety concerns.
"There's no room for all that," said West Middle School Assistant Principle James Cline. "We don't allow skateboards, either."
Cline said students are allowed to wear the shoes as long as the wheels have been taken out.
North Middle and McKinley elementary schools also require students to remove the wheels from their shoes while on campus.
Austin is content to leave the safety debate to his elders. He knows this about his Heelys: They're fun.
A study last year by Heiden Associates, a product-safety and economic consulting firm in Washington, D.C., showed that wearing wheeled shoes is statisically safer than playing many common sports. The results in part:
56 times safer than basketball
38 times safer than bicycle riding
36 times safer than roller skating
34 times safer than soccer
32 times safer than baseball
25 times safer than softball
24 times safer than skateboarding
15 times safer than volleyball
9 times safer than scooter riding
7 times safer than in-line roller skating
6 times safer than swimming
4 times safer than tennis and fishing
3.1 times safer than badminton
1.6 times safer than horseshoe pitching
Source: Heiden Associates
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Stephanie Smith wrote on Jun 21, 2007 2:14 PM:
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JB wrote on Jun 19, 2007 7:27 AM: