Good read, thanks. Going to be interesting, I would think some of these manufacturing companies would want to have domestic manufacturing base to a degree for a just in case scenario...
The cost is the problem. I have been a redwing guy for 8 years now. The pair I got now is 4 years in and the sole is the only issue. If I had a redwing store handy they’d re-sole it for free once but they only have a few shops on west coast of Canada. Think they retail for 300-325 here for the ones made in U.S. Most guys I work with draw the line around 200$ which has a huge market of foreign made boots. But their slowly growing in popularity here.
Why are they overcharging? You can get similar products made in Germany for about $100, they last forever seemingly. $300 for that is batshit crazy.
Any names? If I can find a steel toe work boot that fits like a glove, none of that break in crap, and has goretex or similar waterproof membrane, I’ll give it a shot for 100$
I can't understand the amount people pay for shoes. The profit margins on sneakers shoes is insane. I know people who drop $150-$500 on shoes which is just mind boggling. There is another shoe manufacturer called golden goose where sneakers that probably cost $12 to make retail up to $500!!! I understand people are in business to make money but fu$k are consumers dumb dumb dumb.
$100 sneakers. Cheap rubber and some glue... And people believe the more they pay the better they feel. What a psychological mind Fu©k that is....
The cost is still small comparing to the possibility of IP theft once the foreign countries figured out the secret sauce and start to make your products using your secret sauce and sell them cheap to undercut you. US and western companies need to think longer term instead of always focusing on cost all the time and choose their production partners wisely. Bringing manufacturing home is a good idea as long as you can manage the environment aspect of it. One of the main reasons why manufacturing is so much outsourced nowadays is that some of the steps in the manufacturing process is still highly polluting and/or damaging to the workers' health. Once those processes are outsourced, it's those foreign countries' problem and the company can answer to those environmental groups much easier. So it's no easy feat but then the IP theft and the loss of skilled workers in the manufacturing sector in the US and the West is troubling too.