On Thursday August 29th my neighbour and world famous expert in lighting Wout van Bommel invited some friends living in his neighbourhood to visit the company his family is famous for: Van Bommel shoe Factory. Wout organised that his brother Frans (78 years years old, retired CEO of the company) gave us a tour through the history of the business and that he hosted a site visit. We were received generously with coffee and sweets, an introduction video (with safety precautions ! ) and a chat. The enthusiasm and passion of the former CEO was contageous. He showed us around, answered any question with pleasure and lectured on shoe manufacturing. Van Bommel is famous worldwide for their Quality. Timeless, expensive, sustainable shoes.
Interested in Quality, I was especially touched by the explanation and demonstration of the Goodyear method, wherein pitch wire is used to stitch the sole to the top. In 1869 Charles Goodyear patented his manufacturing machine that increased the longevity and sustainability of shoes. The procedure requires more skills, more time; but creates increased Quality. This, of course, also increases the price of the shoe. Frans van Bommel appeared to be a passionate ambassador of the method. And I became a Goodyear fan too.
Unfortunately, as he told us, most shoes are produced nowadays with cheaper ways of doing like the so called Blake method. Luckily Van Bommel keeps using the Goodyear stitch for (some of) their shoes. But it makes me sad to see how -again- Money wins from Quality…
The visit to the factory ended with a video presenting the history of the family company and the three sons of Frans, the 9th generation who run the business now. In the movie their grandfather, Jan van Bommel, appeared. In a hard time after WWII he spoke the memorable words: ’The days are tough, what do we have to do? Produce a cheaper product and abandon the name we have worked for so hard? What ever we did in the past would have been for nothing. We continue manufacturing our well known Quality product. The fame of our product needs to be sustained against any price’.
Let us listen to grandpa! As a customer I would be willing to pay more and wait nine weeks for my Quality shoes. And I am not the only one. Frans van Bommel told us that people in Africa who cannot afford to buy a car or a bike, but have to walk many miles a day, save money to be able to buy Goodyear method produced shoes. So, change push to pull, boys!!!
I learned a lot that afternoon, thanks to the Van Bommels.
