Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacey Sanchez.
Stacey, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In 2014, the LA Times ran a feature story on Clogmaster and the owner Cecelia Tidlund’s annual visit to Los Angeles. At the end of the article, it noted the business was for sale. We were in the market to buy a business and liked the idea of helping people and loved that Clogmaster is unique in the country. It was a great story and got us thinking about buying her business. I had a great pair of clogs in college and considered myself to be a clog fan.
Clogmaster has a great history, Cecelia started the business in 1976 and had a popular store on La Cienga Blvd., where she was the Clogmaster for many famous chefs including her first customer Wolfgang Puck. Thomas Keller is a great fan of Clogmaster clogs. We set about convincing Cecelia that we were the right buyers for her business and would treat her thousands of customers appropriately, Once we convinced her, we worked with her for a time to learn how to fit and she still remains available to us. We use the same manufacturer she did for 40 years now.
We purchased the business in late 2015 and launched our mobile retail truck in Sept. 2016. We are now traveling to various markets, pop up events, parks, street corners, private homes, and restaurants to custom fit people for clogs. We have made a couple of trips to Northern California, but are more often in Southern California.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh yes, we have literally had some difficult roads, including several breakdowns on the side of the road. We were slow to launch the truck, it took much longer to get it ready than we expected and we had some maintenance issues that caused us to miss a couple of shows. I think you learn a little every day how to do better, and just keep moving forward.
Clogmaster – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Clogmaster is the only business to provide custom uppers on wood sole clogs. People design their own clogs, picking the leather, the color, the base color and the design features they want. The clogs are individually made to order in the US. Clogmaster sizes were developed by Cecelia and are only available to fitted Clogmaster customers. Buying Clogs from any other retailer is really a crapshoot as to whether or not they will fit. Clogmaster clogs are great for people who stand on their feet all day, because the wood soles will never wear to your improper standing or walking habits. This keeps you in alignment, providing relief from hip, back and knee pain. The soles are non-slip, and the uppers are all leather. We are a mobile retail store, which gives us great flexibility to go to our customers.
We also carry a variety of products and knowledge that help people with bunions, hammer toes, Morton’s Neuroma, and Plantar Fasciitis.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
We hear from so many people that these are the only shoes they can wear and they are so glad we are keeping the business going. Some stories do stand out. Dave’s most memorable moment was after working for a while to get the fit right for someone, the customer was so happy and told him, “if it were not for your shoes I would be on unemployment right now.” For me, it was the woman who burst into tears when I told her she could pick from any color for her shoes. She has very large feet and can rarely find any shoe that fits, let alone being able to order any color or style she wanted.
Pricing:
- $155-170
Contact Info:
- Address: 2339 Colgate Dr
- Website: www.clogmaster.com
- Phone: 7147075108
- Email: Clogs@clogmaster.com
- Instagram: /theclogmaster
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clogmaster/
- Twitter: @clogsoc
Image Credit:
Fletcher Welling
Dave Welling
Stacey Sanchez
Hollis Welling
Chef Shafer
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