July is Disability Awareness Month and John’s Crazy Socks is marking the occasion with our Awareness Socks that celebrate people with differing abilities. For the first time, our Awareness Socks are available in retail stores. You can find them nationwide in boutiques, clothing stores, gift shops and mom and pop shops, as well as select Kohl's stores nationwide for a limited time.
Awareness Socks from John’s Crazy Socks
In January 2017, John designed and introduced our Down Syndrome Awareness Socks. These socks celebrate people with Down syndrome and raise money for the National Down Syndrome Society and ACDS. Next, we introduced our Autism Awareness Socks to honor our colleagues and friends with autism, to champion people with autism and to raise money for the Autism Society of America. We have gone on to create a full line of Down syndrome and autism-themed products as well as Awareness Socks for Cerebral Palsy, Williams Syndrome and more.
Making Our Awareness Socks Available in Retail Stores
For the first time, these socks are available in retail stores. John hand-delivered socks to shops in the New York metro area like Sleepy Coffee Too and the Gift Shop at Good Samaritan Hospital. He has made videos and sent special packages to welcome shops across the country like Evergreen and Lily Floral Studio and Gifts in Iowa, the Boundless Bean in Massachusetts, Linda’s Creative Gifts in New Jersey and Townes Garden Center in Florida.
Select Kohl’s stores now carry John’s Crazy Socks as part of their Discover@Kohl’s program, a new store experience that curates new and seasonally relevant brands throughout the store to surprise and inspire customers on their shopping journey.
John Cronin, co-founder and Chief Happiness Officer at John’s Crazy Socks, visited the Kohl’s store in Levittown, New York to check out the displays that share information about employing people with differing abilities and our Giving Back Program. Customers and staff were quick to greet John and ask for photos with him. They told John how much they loved his socks and how happy they were to see the socks in Kohl’s.
“We are so excited to see our socks in retail stores like Linda’s Creative Gifts and Kohl’s,” said John. “They are helping us spread happiness and the customers are helping us employ more people with differing abilities and helping us give back to our charity partners like the Special Olympics, the National Down Syndrome Society and the Autism Society of America.
John said, “We even have Pet Rescue Socks that promote adopting pets and they raise money for the North Shore Animal League America.”
J’s by John's Crazy Socks
To offer its socks to retailers, John’s Crazy Socks has created its own line of socks – J’s – that include our famous Awareness Socks. The J’s are exclusive to John’s Crazy Socks with vibrant designs and construction that customers appreciate. Customers have given John’s Crazy Socks over 30,000 five-star reviews.
“Our J’s are beautiful socks that our customers love,” said John Cronin. “Customers tell us that when they put on their J’s, the socks make them feel good, they feel happy. And now you can get our J’s in gift shops, boutiques and department stores like Kohl’s.”
Promoting Disability Awareness
At John’s Crazy Socks, an essential part of our mission to spread happiness is to show what people with differing abilities can do. After all, our co-founder and inspiration, John Cronin, is not only an entrepreneur and sock tycoon, but he has Down syndrome. More than half our colleagues have differing abilities so every time you buy our socks, you are helping employ people with differing abilities.
Creating jobs is not enough. We want to show the world what is possible. We offer tours of our operations – more than 2,000 students have visited – and more than 1,000 students have participated in our work groups, a program that offers a taste of the working life. We have an extensive Giving Back Program that raises money for charity partners working with people with differing abilities. John and his father and co-founder, Mark X. Cronin, take on speaking engagements and have traveled across the U.S., Canada and Mexico showing what people with differing abilities can do.
About John’s Crazy Socks
John’s Crazy Socks was inspired by John Lee Cronin, a young man with Down syndrome, and his love of colorful and fun socks—what he calls his “crazy socks.” He and his father, Mark X. Cronin, started the company as a social enterprise with a mission of Spreading Happiness™. With more than 4,000 socks, John’s Crazy Socks is now the world’s largest sock store. More than half their employees have a differing ability, and their Giving Back program has raised over $625,000 for charity partners like the Special Olympics, the National Down Syndrome Society, and the Autism Society of America. Most of all, they are Spreading Happiness™.
For more information about John’s Crazy Socks, visit our webpage, Facebook page, Instagram account, TikTok or YouTube channel. You can also contact us at 631-760-5625 or via email at service@johnscrazysocks.com.
