• The Wall Street Journal, Thursday, December 20, 2007 2:48 PM

When Sara Lee--parent of Kiwi shoe polish--interviewed 3,500 people in eight countries about their shoe-care needs a couple of years ago, they were shocked at the results: People don't care nearly as much about the shine as they do about how fresh and comfortable their shoes are on the inside. Shine ranked 17th on a list of more than 20 attributes.

Since then, Kiwi has unveiled a slew of new products, including "fresh'ins" (thin, lightly fragranced shoe inserts for women) and "smiling feet" (a line of cushions for heels and the balls of feet, antislip pads and strips that can be placed behind the straps of high-heel sling-back shoes). It has also emerged as a test case for CEO Brenda Barnes's effort to revive the long stagnant conglomerate best known for its cheesecake.

An R&D center in the Netherlands has also produced fresheners for sneakers and men's shoes, insoles for athletic shoes, single-use polishes and more products to protect shoes from weather. Kiwi's sales this year rose 4.4% to $310 million.

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »