• Washington Post, Thursday, July 16, 2009 10:54 AM

Crocs came out of nowhere in 2002 to sell more than 100 million pairs. Everyone, it seem, was wearing them, even as the fashion world mocked their pedestrian style. But now, reports Ylan Q. Mui, Crocs has a lot of excess inventory on its feet and mounting red ink on its balance sheet. The company is, in fact, in jeopardy of failing by the end of September, when some heavy-duty debt comes due.

"The company's toast," said Damon Vickers, who manages an investment fund at Nine Points Capital Partners. "They're zombie-ish. They're dead and they don't know it."

Trend and marketing expert Rachel Weingarten says Crocs have moved to wasteland of the comfort-shoe aisle. In another decade or so, she says, we may be pulling a pair of hot-pink Crocs from the back of the closet and reflecting with misty eyes: "Remember when we had ugly, Flintstone-looking feet?"

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