Alpargatas Argentina

Alpargatas S.A.I.C.

Type	Private
Industry	Manufacturing
Founded	1885; 132 years ago (1885)
Headquarters	Buenos Aires
Key people	Márcio Luiz Simões Utsch, President Cristino Javier Goñi, COO
Products	Textiles Footwear Home decor Retail sales
Revenue	US$ 283 million (2011)
Net income	US$ 4 million (2011)
Total assets	US$ 195 million (12/2011)
Number of employees	4,000
Parent	Alpargatas S.A.
Website	alpargatas.com.ar

Alpargatas Argentina is the leading textile manufacturer in Argentina, as well as a major local distributor and exporter. Originally established in Argentina in 1883, since 2008 the company is a subsidiary of Brazilian Alpargatas S.A.., formerly part of the industrial conglomerate Camargo Corrêa.

Juan Echegaray, a Basque Argentine immigrant, and the textile engineering background of Robert Fraser, a Scottish Argentine immigrant, created a partnership in 1883 for the manufacture of espadrilles (jute-soled canvas footwear favored by laborers for their comfort, durability and low cost). These shoes' Spanish-language name, Alpargatas, inspired the company's name, Sociedad Anónima Fábrica Argentina de Alpargatas, upon its incorporation in 1885.

Demand for the unassuming footwear grew with the wave of immigration in Argentina during the 1880s, and by 1890, Alpargatas had established a facility in neighboring Uruguay. The fast-growing textile industry led to its diversification into yarn in 1892, and by 1907, a facility was opened in São Paulo, Brazil under the name "Sao Paulo Alpargatas".

The company's growth allowed it to develop larger facilities in 1928 occupying a city block in Buenos Aires' southside Barracas section. This facility began making vulcanized rubber sole shoes in the 1930s under the supervision of engineer Luis Pastorino.

Alpargatas relocated its manufacturing facilities to the southern suburb of Florencio Varela in 1950. This new, 70,000 m² (740,000 ft²) facility allowed it to diversify its product line, leading to the launching of Flecha, its casual footwear brand, in 1962. The establishment of a cotton gin in Sáenz Peña, a town in northern Argentina, allowed Alpargatas to manufacture denim in 1968, allowing it to take advantage to fashion trends in that direction, and a new plant in Aguilares, Tucumán, allowed it to create its Pampero children's footwear line in 1972.