• Marketplace, Friday, October 9, 2009 10:41 AM

Good brands can survive bad governments, it appears. When the German Democratic Republic collapsed in 1990, many of its companies were closed (about 14,000) or privatized. But some have survived or been rejuvenated and have a rabid following, Brett Neely reports from the former East Berlin.

Zeha Shoes was known as "the Adidas of the East," for example. A few years ago, Torsten Heine bought the trademarks. He and a partner have reinvented the brand, opening several stores in trendy Berlin neighborhoods that cater to well-heeled hipsters willing to shell out upwards of $150 for a pair of retro sneakers.

At first, consumers spurned products made in the East, says retail expert Nils Busch-Petersen. But formally East Germans rediscovered their loyalty to local products when it began to hit home economically. "They'd go buy a different detergent and suddenly the detergent factory around the corner would be threatened with closure because no one was buying the old East German stuff anymore," Busch-Petersen says.

Read the whole story at Marketplace »