hip of Walter Haas Jr. In twenty years, the company positioned themselves in Paris, Moscow, Prague, Warsaw and Japan. A decision in 1995 made by President Bob Haas to launch a website, seemed to be a good idea at the time, and an additional opportunity to reach a larger market. This time, he was wrong. Fall of 1999, Levi Strauss & Co. decided to discontinue sales on their websites. According to experts, the company lost more than $20 million (Ligos) . The executive board were responsible for decisions of the company that did not work out, however there were many crises they saw that could not be avoided. Events in history such as the Civil War, the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, World War I, the Great Depression and World War II all greatly affected the world as a whole. Levi Strauss & Co. managed to survive all of these crises and more, but the consequences of some were far more destructive than others. In 1861, when the Civil War began, LS &C was met with restrictions on shipping of goods, especially cotton from the South. This greatly affected the company’s supply. In spite of this, the perseverance of Levi Strauss got them through. Once the war concluded, business went back to normal. The earthquake of 1906 was the second in the company’s history, however this time, damages were far more debilitating. One building was completely destroyed and another was greatly damaged. The surrounding city saw property damage totaling $350 million joined with fatalities of 452 (Cray 46-47) . Instead of giving up, the company took their grand loss in stride and rebuilt an even better facility. Another set of stifling setbacks were those during the Great Depression and World War II. During these devastating times sales decreased sharply, but the business now run by the Haas family, continued with the policy of equity that the Strausses so fervently pursued. Through times of economic turmoil, the company stood by t...
