Archive for November 2011
Footwear Companies – Art Shoes, El Naturalista & Volcom Clothing
Art shoes are a Spanish footwear company that produce a wide range of shoes, boots and sandals for men and women. The women’s range of art shoes consists of Mediterranean styled sandals as well as slip on style trainers. The Art shoe company also produce a range of leather high heeled shoes that would be suitable for both a night at the pub or a business meeting. The mens range consists of a vast collection of fashion styled work boots and trainers. The art shoes men’s range is both stylish and comfortable for relaxing or more intensive sports activities. The leather used in art shoes is from hide that is naturally tempered using river stones to treat it and provide a comfortable fit.
Spanish footwear brand El Naturalista shoes are based in the community of La Rioja a region of Spain with a tradition in shoe making. El Naturalista is represented by it’s green frog logo that is a symbol of the shoe brands commitment to the environment. As a result of this many of El Naturalista shoes are made from organic materials, natural materials and dyes as well as biodegradable materials.
Volcom Clothing are a sportswear clothing and footwear brand that have branched out into producing ecological clothing. Volcom clothing’s commitment to using organic and biodegradable materials in the production of their clothing can be seen in the organic Volcom range. The Volcom organic designs feature clever slogans encouraging the wearer to use alternative means of transport and to recycle. These are t-shirts with a conscience.
History of New Balance Athletic Shoes
New Balance Athletic Shoes, Inc. is an American footwear company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It began existence as New Balance Arch Support Company and exclusively sold arch supports and other shoe accessories. In the 1970′s New Balance expanded to include specialized shoe design. Today New Balance Athletic Shoes, Inc. includes the brands Dunham, PF Flyers, Aravon, Warrior and Brine.
New Balance Arch Support Company got its start in 1906 when William J. Riley, a 33 year old English immigrant to the States, set up shop in Boston, MA. The original company only sold accessories designed to make people’s shoes fit better. Arthur Hall joined the company in 1934. He is largely responsible for designing New Balance’s marketing strategy at that time, which was to advertise New Balance products to people whose jobs required them to spend long hours standing. According to the New Balance website, the company’s primary customers at that time were police officers and waiters who were desperate for orthopedic relief.
Although Riley’s daughter and son-in-law designed the first New Balance tennis shoe in 1961 (it was called the “Trackster”), New Balance did not enjoy success in the arena until the company switched hands to Jim Davis. The handover was well timed. The US was just about to launch into the jogging craze of the 1970s, and Boston was at the epicenter of the storm. In fact, Davis purchased New Balance on the day of the Boston Marathon in 1972.
Before Davis, New Balance consisted of six employees who made roughly 30 pairs of shoes a day. These were specialty shoes designed for customers with specific needs. Davis was able to expand the company while maintaining New Balance’s legacy of first rate service for its customers.
New Balance has experienced a lot of changes in the last few decades. The head of its operations is no longer a Bostonian but a Californian. New Balance factories were opened in England (to accommodate a growing European market) and later in China. But there are a few principles that New Balance tries to keep consistent. First, New Balance still maintains five factories in the United States – a rarity in these days of globalization and cheap labor overseas. Also, New Balance has a strict “Endorsed by No One ” policy that refuses to cater to the bankbooks of celebrity athletes. The company maintains that quality shoes do not need a celebrity spokesperson. In many ways, this is a consumer-friendly policy. After all, 5 dollars of every Nike shoe you buy goes straight into the pocket of Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods.
How To Source For Legitimate Wholesale Shoe Distributors
Wholesale shoe distributors are not hard to come by but finding a reliable one that you can work well with is very hard especially when you do not know where to start. So how do you verify the credibility of a particular wholesaler? We will look at some basic rules you can apply here.
When you go to the search engine and search for “wholesale shoe distributors” you will see tons of websites listed. Take a look at the websites and take note of their contact information like full business name, business registration number, address, telephone number as well as email address. It would be ideal to be able to verify the business registration number but many times, it is not as straight forward especially when dealing with non-English speaking wholesalers.
You can do a quick check, however, by contacting the wholesale shoe distributors by the number given on the websites. Make sure it is a valid land line. A legitimate company will always use a land line instead of cell phone number. Also, get a feel of the professionalism of the company by the way the call was picked up. In the event that verbal communication is not possible due to language and cultural barrier, make use of email and subsequently online chat programs like MSN, Yahoo Messenger or ICQ for example. It will help you get to know more about the supplier and get faster response, thus building trust.
For wholesale shoe distributors from China, they will have to apply for a certificate of Import & Export from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Ask for a copy of the certificate for verification purpose. Also, trade companies in China are required to register with Chinese Customs House. These companies will then be issued registration numbers from Business Information Center (BIC) which you should also ask for.
You may be thinking “That’s too much of a hassle!” True but they are necessary. Fortunately, there are online wholesalers’ directories that provide not just a listing of wholesalers, but also invite retailers to post reviews on the companies. One such directory even has a forum where retailers exchange ideas and comments on the suppliers they work with. Joining this community will certainly help you make better decision while sourcing for good wholesale shoe distributors.
George Tho is a webmaster and reviewer of online services. Read his review on an one-stop product sourcing portal that features reviews and forums on wholesalers and suppliers to help you find reliable wholesale shoe distributors here.