Could be that back in the day, they were made here in the usa. Now china, vietnam, thailand. I have very sensitive knee's, so my knee's getting sore is when the shoes have 'expired', so I just buy a new pair before that happens, 3-5 months. But the stretching out of the material is what gets me. Like I said, when new, first 2-5 weeks, the laces tie up tight close to the top, then over the next few weeks, I have to pull them in tighter, and tighter, till then the excess laces are dragging on the floor. The material stretches out to fast. But, NB makes more money that way. I hate it that they keep changing the model style, how it's built, and not as good as the previous model. Now wearing 880 fresh foam.