Heelys are hip these days. Since the roller shoes debuted in 2000, Dallas-based Heelys Inc. has shipped more than 4.5 million of them to customers in 60 countries throughout the world, generating $44.6 million in sales last June, according to a company news release.
“They are so much fun,” said Elora Edwards, 7, a second-grader at Swansfield Elementary School in Columbia, who received her Heelys for Christmas. The roller shoes have caught on like wildfire among children, who can be seen whizzing by shoppers at local malls or businesses near you.
But at least one local grocery store and the Howard County Public School System has banned roller shoes, saying they could lead to serious injuries among children.
“It?s something we did because of the potential of children falling and running into customers. We are being proactive,” said Jamie Miller, spokesman for the Giant Food chain, which has about 190 stories in Maryland, Virginia, Washington and Delaware.
“We have banned the roller shoes in our schools for safety reasons,” said Patti Caplan, spokeswoman for Howard schools. Elora?s mother, Lucy Montanez de Garcia, said her daughter wears only Heelys under her watchful eye. “I?m always with her when she has them on, and she knows how to take the wheel out [of the sole] if she has to,” she said.
The roller-shoemaker has responded to injury claims on its Web site, www.heelys.com, by citing a safety study that shows roller shoes don?t cause as many injuries as sports such as basketball. The company also states that it sells protective gear for customers who purchase the shoes.
“When used with the proper safety equipment, wheeled sports provide safe opportunities for children to exercise,” Heelys CEO Mike Staffaroni said, based on data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Sporting Goods Association.
