COMPANY PROFILE
Cheryl Taylor, Editor, talks to Justin Morgan of
shoes
Tell us about your company history. What’s the story behind the brand? HB was established in 1964 in London as a “premium” importer – having been agent for some of Italy’s premium brands. HB was synonymous with handmade moccasins and pumps from Tuscany as well as fashion lead Italian shoes. The company subsequently became exclusive distributor for brands such as Zodiaco and Steptronic as well as producing its own range of shoes and matching handbags in Italy – HB Espana in Spain.
Do you have a brand philosophy? HB is quality and fit driven. Originally we specialised in AA and B fittings but now regular fittings dominate. Our focus is on independent retailers who want a point of difference in their product offering
How many pairs of shoes did you sell last year? HB sells in the region of 150000 pairs per year
What sets your company’s products apart from the rest? Fit and individuality – we also hope we offer friendly customer service, which we believe is ever improving, not least as a result of our recent move in to new warehouses in Leicester
Where are you based and where do you manufacture? Manufacturing is in Italy and Spain for all our HB branded ladies’ shoes and we have recently become the distributor for ARA, one of German’s largest manufactuers (with global production) as well as Salamander of Germany. Our Steptronic men’s brand is UK based with diverse global production.
How many people do you have working for you? Do you have a high turnover of staff? At head office we have three warehouse people and two in the office. On sales we have nine plus Peter and myself. Many of the team have joined us since we moved to Leicester but Gerry, our warehouse manager has been with us for over 35 years!
10 • FOOTWEAR TODAY •OCTOBER 2012
How do you market your products? Do you use social networking? Social networking is still a little fast for us – we have only recently computerised! We use trade publications in particular Footwear Today, but rely a lot on word of mouth
Any famous customers? It is rumoured that Her Majesty has worn HB Mocs! But we’re not really in a position to check!
And, the next step? Any plans for the future, new lines etc? HB has gone through a major metamorphosis in the last 3 years with our warehouse move, computerisation of stock and finance as well as the addition of new brands. We have also added many to our headcount so we are now at a time of consolidation. We believe our brand mix allows us to offer a full presentation to the retailer. We are constantly being invited to work with brands, many of whom we would love to work with, but we must be sure to fully support the existing brands we have so that our service and standards are not in any way compromised
How do we contact you?
info@hbshoes.co.uk • Tel: 0116 260 5043 • Fax: 0116 269 3627
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