Expansion
As the demand for Roots' negative-heel shoes continued, the Roots factory expanded. By the fall of 1975, the factory that had made only 30 pairs of shoes a day was making more than 2,000.[12] Later that year, Roots decided to experiment with casual apparel.[13]
By 1977, Roots had expanded to 65 retail outlets across North America and Europe and 250 employees.[14] Roots then began the transition from making negative-heel shoes to making footwear with a wedge sole, and introduced classic handbags to their lineup. The company began wholesaling bags, footwear, belts, and leather jackets to Canadian retailers like Eaton’s and Holt Renfrew, and U.S. retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, and Nordstrom. Roots continued to expand its product line by introducing Roots Design in 1979, their first line of men's tailored clothing. This line started with leather jackets that were produced in a small building in Port Credit, Mississauga.
By the end of 1980, with the closing of many stores in the U.S. and Europe, Roots began to expand in Canada. The expansion launched the manufacturing of T-shirts and sweatshirts on a small scale, and the creation of the brand's label Beaver Canoe, a joint venture canoe building operation with Camp Tamakwa's co-founder Omer Stringer. Clothing and outdoor items were then created under the Beaver Canoe brand in 1983. Two years later, Roots launched Roots Beaver Athletics (RBA) with the beaver logo and by the early 1990s, the logo had appeared on more than a million garments.[15]
Roots began to expand in Asia in 1993, starting with two stores in Japan, where negative heel shoes had a resurgent popularity and continued to expand throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.[16] Although Roots stores have closed in Asia, Roots began to expand in Taiwan and China in the 2000s. Over the years, these stores expanded their product offering to include apparel as well as leather goods, kids apparel, and home furnishings. Roots Taiwan launched a separate website in 2011. As of May 2013, Roots had 75 retail outlets in Taiwan[17] and 16 in China, but with plans for full closure.
Roots Air
In 2001, the company was involved with the creation of a new Canadian discount airline, Roots Air. The new discount airline was created in 2000 and service began in March 2001, but was suspended in May 2001 when Air Canada acquired a 30% equity interest and 50% voting stake in Roots Air operator Skyservice. All flights involving Roots Air were transferred to Air Canada. Roots Air served the Canadian cities of Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto. Service to Los Angeles was cancelled prior to launch. They operated three Airbus A320 jetliners in scheduled passenger service and had leased a Boeing 727 from Kelowna Flightcraft. An Airbus A330 had been planned to enter service but the airline ceased operations before it could be put into revenue service.[18][19][20]
