Birkenstock contracts with UPS to speed special orders

Birkenstock contracts with UPS to speed special orders    Birkenstock Footprint Sandals, Inc., based in Novato, Calif., an employee-owned provider of German-made Birkenstock “individual expression” footwear, has contracted with UPS Supply Chain Solutions to expedite special-order deliveries. UPS Supply Chain Solutions, a business unit of Atlanta-based UPS, a provider of package delivery and logistics services, will manage special orders to the United States from Birkenstock manufacturing centers in Germany. Orders that once took months to reach the United States will now arrive in days, UPS said in a statement.
   Under UPS’s management, shipments go directly to retail outlets, alleviating interim handling and repackaging steps. The program “takes pressure off our U.S. warehouses and gives our retailers more options for customers,” said Gene Kunde, chief operating officer of Birkenstock.