Shoepassion.com - The Berlin Shoe Brand Picks Up Pace

BERLIN - Nov. 6, 2013 - PRLog -- Since 2010, SHOEPASSION.com has stood for passion for Goodyear-welted and handcrafted, full- leather shoes. From the very beginning, it has been the formerly online-only company’s ambition to give one of the oldest traditional crafts of shoe manufacturing a decent home and to provide a collection of highest quality men’s shoes in its own brand, at an affordable price. Now SHOEPASSION.com is not only online 24 hours a day for your dream shoes, but also has its own flagship store in Berlin, the home of the startup and fashion scene. With the launch of the English-language http://www.shoepassion.co.uk- and http://shoepassion.com-domains in October 2013, SHOEPASSION.com has also responded to growing international demand. The “Anti-Zalando” (Der Handel, 16.2.2013) has found its place in the highly competitive shoe-retail market.

Goodyear-welted men’s shoes have found a worthy home in Berlin

“SHOEPASSION.com is more than a fashionable Anglicism to promote cheap shoes on the Internet”, says founder Tim Keding. “Rather, the term defines our motivation and aims. We want to arouse men’s passion for Goodyear-welted footwear, the almost forgotten, supreme discipline of shoe manufacturing.” SHOEPASSION.com unites shoe know-how with a belief in sharing the benefits of Goodyear-welted shoes and wants to play its part in the growing renaissance of style and good taste. In the best tradition of a first class store, SHOEPASSION.com has its own collection of high quality footwear, offering more than 130 different models. In addition to timeless classic shoes, moccasins, men’s slippers and boots, they provide especially extravagant designs, colours and exotic types of leather like stingray, alligator, lizard or python. Designed in Berlin, all of the Goodyear-welted shoes are produced in a traditional Spanish shoe factory.

“We use some of the most highly sought-after leathers in the world, including box calf, French calf and cordovan from Horween in our collection. Vegetable-tanned in Italy, all of our fully dyed leathers are skin-friendly, underpinning the exceptional characteristics of our first-class shoes”, says shoe lover Keding. “Properly cared-for footwear is an essential calling card for any man. Therefore we also offer a wide range of exquisite care products. But even well-cared-for shoes can develop faults over time”, he adds. “With the opening of our own Germany-wide shoe-repair service, we have created a comprehensive service around Goodyear-welted full-leather shoes. We hope it sets an example in a modern throw-away society.” Alongside its high-quality shoe-care products, practical shoe-care seminars and matching leather belts, SHOEPASSION.com now caters to a shoe’s entire lifetime with its new repair service.

New store in the heart of Berlin

The Berlin company is not only focused on online customers though. Before the media identified the “online goes offline” trend of e-commerce brands opening bricks-and-mortar stores, SHOEPASSION.com had already thrown open its doors to visitors. “Berlin is cosmopolitan, dynamic and offers a high quality of life. The city attracts people from across the world who live, study and work here,” says Keding. “Customers used to visit our first premises in the Mitte district, despite us not having a showroom at the beginning. But we responded quickly and now our new store offers more fitting surroundings for our visitors and our shoes.” Shoe lovers can drop into the store in the traditional Berlin street Ackerstraße, take a close-up look at all of the Goodyear-welted shoe models and experience the service excellence of the young team.

German startup picks up pace without venture-capital backing

“For many men, buying shoes has become a frustrating compromise“, says founder Tim Keding. “Sadly, too many men will never feel the beauty and joy of handcrafted, Goodyear-welted shoes. But we want to change that. The opening of our own store, our own shoe-repair service and international expansion have proved that we can excite shoe lovers with our concept: for us shoes are much more than everyday objects – Goodyear-welted shoes are pieces of art. We founded SHOEPASSION.com in 2010 as shoe lovers, for shoe lovers.”

“I am proud that we have developed a company of this size from our initial vision and have managed it all without giving up one single part of our company. Bootstrapping requires a company’s founders to make a lot out of limited financial resources. And we have been more successful in that than other companies with greater financial means”, he adds. SHOEPASSION.com has managed the evolution from startup to its international appearance without a single cent of venture capital. That makes SHOEPASSION.com one of the first German startups without venture-capital backing ever to launch a TV campaign.

SHOEPASSION.com guarantees the same passion for men’s shoes to the international market

“Our high-quality products and the benefits we offer as an online company have made SHOEPASSION.com very attractive to the international market”, says Keding. “The step up to our internationalisation has been a natural consequence of market demand from European and other foreign countries.” Broad coverage and low cost structure are only a few benefits of SHOEPASSION.com. By cutting out the middleman and not paying for a brand name the Berlin company guarantees effective distribution and offers an incomparably fair price for Goodyear- welted, full-leather shoes.

The English SHOEPASSION.com homepage should help avoid possible language barriers and offers the same shoe dream to the international market. All visitors to the site can choose between a German, British and international website view, including national currency. The international versions boast the same attention to detail as the German website. The founders remain focused on quality, knowledge and, above all, excellent service.

Traditional craft has a new home: SHOEPASSION.com.