Thanks, I wondered about that. I recall when they dropped them a few years ago and replaced them with AE. Suspected it was due to questionable ability to restock, and possibly margins. But with AE going down the tubes, I thought they might bring Alden back. O'Connell's does seem determined to preserve a high level of quality throughout their lines.
And if they wanted a classic, high-quality American Shoe company making traditional models, O'Connell's choice was Alden, Alden or, well, Alden.
+1. I'd love to see them carry some Rancourt styles as well.
I have heard about one small retailer who dropped Alden because the company is no longer supportive of smaller retailers and takes forever with orders, etc. Perhaps that has changed recently.
Interesting. My surmise was based upon past descriptions concerning limited production capacity, and comments attributed to Alden about difficulty maintaining qualified staff to do production. This goes back a while. I know that J. Cusey used to do special orders, and seemed to be connected to what was going on with the firm.
It makes sense for a firm that wants to stay in business to focus on meeting the needs of retailers who move the most product at the highest prices, which basically means the NYC, LA, and Japanese speciality/hipster shoe retailers. Coupled with the challenges/internal problems you mention, which I remember us discussing a few years back in this forum, then I'm not surprised Alden *might* ignore small retailers, or even a huge one like BB: I imagine the small retailers will be small volumes small margins, while BB will demand huge unmanageable volumes but small margins. Why not then go with medium volume higher margin retailers like those speciality/hipster places and Japanese companies that can charge literally any price for a pair of cordovan indy boots or whatnot and people will pay it? All of this is speculation on my part I should note.
⇧ All that makes sense and, if Alden is thinking even deeper, avoiding mass-marketers like BB might help it maintain the integrity of its image.
Cool video. I wonder how the ratio of machine-to-man-work at Alden compares to those insanely gorgeous shoes you show us all the time by the custom shoe makers in Japan. Said another way, do those true custom guys use machines in much of their work?
Those "true" custom guys would only use a sewing machine for the patterns. Everything else is by hand, AFAIK.
No love for Rancourt?
Rancourt doesn't make traditionally styled, traditionally constructed dress shoes, as far as I know.
