The Los Angeles Times is out with an article on Vans, ahead of the June 4th release of "Vans: Off the Wall: Stories of Sole from Vans Originals," by Doug Palladini.  The article is a pretty straight-forward, broad-based review of the company's history, but we do get several interesting nuggets, among them:

Jeff Mintz, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities, says it's part of the brand's strategy that "no one really realizes Vans is owned by basically the largest apparel company in the world."

Steve Van Doren on his father, co-founder Paul Van Doren: "He would only open stores that had a free right-hand exterior wall because he thought that was the best place to catch someone's eye if they were driving by."

"[Vans has turned] into a global presence likely to become the first billion-dollar skate brand some time in the next two years." Read the whole thing here.