‘I am 35 years old and I own Davidsons Skomakeri in Uppsala, Sweden. We sell goodyear-welted shoes from Crockett&Jones, Gaziano&Girling and John Brommels. We also sell high-quality shoe care products, belts, socks and other accessories befitting a high-end shoe shop. Furthermore, we offer high-end shoe repairs, using the best materials available, and specialise in repairing goodyear-welted shoes and bally curling. I grew up working with my father in his shoe repair shop and learning the trade from him. I have a girlfriend whom I live together with, but no children yet. Her interest in high-quality shoes is , unforturnately, quite limited. My father was, of course, proud when I chose the shoe repair occupation.

Products from Pukimo Raivio

Kiton, grey sports jacket, size 50EU
Ralph Lauren, Black Label suit, size 52EU

My interest in shoes came gradually since I started my shoe repair shop. The more shoes I repaired, the more I learned about the quality, and soon my interest in goodyear-welted shoes was a passion. The big difference between fashion shoes and classic shoes is quality. It is difficult to find fashion shoes with a high enough quality, and the only production technique worth selling in my shop is the welted one. The welted shoes are bound by certain restrictions in how much you can alternate the model, which makes the shoes classic in their appearance. Ergo, the only shoes I’m interested in are the classics.

When you’ve picked apart thousands of welted shoes and repaired them, you get a very good knowledge about shoe quality. Compaired to a normal shoe salesman, who only see the shoes when they are brand new, I get to see, and pick them apart when they are 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, 10 years old and so forth. I also see what kind of wear and tear they have been put through, and from this I have gotten a pretty good idea of how shoes will age and wear over the years.

My own wardrobe is very varied. For the moment I prefer jeans and a polo (t-shirt with a collar). In general, I like colours and I am a manic colour matcher. I want to match the shoes with the belt, and the socks with the polo or sweater, the tie and handkerchief with socks and cufflinks. My webshop offers one of the best shoe care assortments in the world with plenty of information about shoe care to go with it. My shoe stock increases constantly and during spring 2013 I will offer more than ever. Regarding clothes, my passion is extremely limited and my knowledge also. I can not judge quality in any other way than to go on the price tag and brand, which I know is really stupid. But I prefer to buy shirts from the famous makers, like Oscar Jacobson and Sandström, and polos from Ralph Lauren and Hackett. Hackett is one of my favourite brands, but I really have no idea about the quality. I like how their clothes look.

My shop has grown very slowly to what it is today. Since I knew the trade from my father, I started my first shop just to have something to do. After a while I fell in love with the trade, and the entrepreneurial side of it. I started very small with just shoe repairs and key cutting, in a small shop in Uppsala. Slowly my interest in welted shoes grew, and I started to sell Crockett&Jones in 2003. Back then, I only had 25 pairs in stock, all in different models and sizes, and all shoes sold had to be ordered. Since then, the sales has constantly increased and today I’m in a bigger shop on a much better location with ca. 70 models in stock. In the beginning I didn’t even have a goal for the company, but after a few years a goal started forming. That goal has been reached, and now I’m working on a new goal to set.

Since the webshop is quite new and my concept is quite unique, it is still very difficult to even guess where a possible limit might be. So for now I’m just working on keeping a high quality service and exploring new possibilities. New goals have to wait until I can get a better feel for the existing possibilities. My concept has been very well received by everybody, but keep in mind that the market is extremely small for my type of service. I try to stay in front of everybody else in the same business, with a Webshop, social forums, such as YouTube, Facebook and my newly started blog. This, of course, is considered to be very modern and consequently positively received by the clientele.

Besides my work and passion for shoes, I am a divemaster for a local diveshop, so diving is naturally another passion of mine. I also like to hunt and fish and snowboard. I wish more men knew how to properly care for their shoes, and above all, how shoes are supposed to be used. Few people – at least in Sweden – wear their shoes properly. They never let their shoes dry, they don’t use shoe horns or shoe trees, and they wear summer shoes in winter and winter shoes in summer.

For newbies in the world of high quality shoes I have one thing to say above all others. DO NOT BUY SHOES ONLINE, unless you are very familiar with the brand, last, size and fitting. On my webshop, where I sell welted shoes, I clearly state that you need a professional measuring and analysis of your feet before buying shoes. Different feet fit different lasts and models. Also, high quality shoes come in half numbers and different widths, and have the capacity to last for up to 20-30 years, which makes the fitting that much more important. Furthermore, newbies tend to have limited funds and therefore tend to drift towards the cheaper brands. But know that the craft involved in making welted shoes is the same and the production price the same, no matter the brand.

Therefore the cheaper the shoe, the cheaper the materials they use, and you can often see a link between price and quality. But not in direct correlation. Shoes for 250€ are rarely half as good as a pair for 500€. To get the most value for money, I would keep to the high-end brands like Crockett&Jones, Edward Green, John Lobb Paris, Gaziano&Girling and their likes. I have yet to see a more priceworthy brand than Crockett&Jones, though. And to kill all comments on the post about me saying that just because I sell Crockett&Jones. The fact is: I dont say it because I sell them. I sell them because I think they are the best.’

http://www.davidsonsskomakeri.com/

Pictures: Marcus Davidson