US retailer to introduce custom sole service
A new facility that will allow footwear retail staff to produced customised footbeds for the purchaser, in store, is to be installed in all 430 outlets of the Red Wing Shoe Company in the US by October 2003.
Called the Red Wing Custom Foot Support System - and devised in conjunction with Edge Marketing of Alberta, Canada - the system utilises technology that has been available to medical practitioners for some time. Employing 'heat to fit' principles, the technology enables the footbeds to be fully customised in under five minutes. The system will be used exclusively for workboots initially.
Edge Marketing's own 'Custom Footbeds System' is already in operation with over 750 independent retailers across North America and that number is expected to rise to over 1700 once the first Red Wing stores take on board the system. Beyond that, it is expected to be made available to the over 4000 outlets that carry Red Wing products worldwide.
