COMPANY PROFILE
GRS Footwear 130 year heritage
Tell us about your company history. What’s the story behind the brand? GRS Footwear has its roots deep in the
heritage of the UK footwear industry, with the Company being originally established in 1880, over 130 years ago. The original founder, 'George Rye' moved from
Northampton, to Newcastle upon Tyne where he opened a business supplying shoe materials & components to the shoemakers and repairers in the region. The business steadily grew and in 1928 the
Company had a wholesale & retail premises right in the heart of the busiest retail street in the City. Through the generations the Company has
passed from father to son right up to the present day giving GRS a unique 130 year heritage of being in the same direct line of ownership. The current Directors began to develop the
'Lunar' brand in 1990 and it can now be found in many leading department stores, boutiques, mail order catalogues & good independent retailers across the UK & Europe. Recently we opened a new purpose built GRS
Head Office & Distribution Centre on the outskirts of Newcastle upon Tyne and a QC & Sourcing Office in China.
Do you have a brand philosophy? ‘It’s not about what you can take out of
shoe, but it’s about what you can put it in to make it better’.
What sets your company’s products apart from the rest? Price and quality. Arguably, no company in the sector offers the same level of quality,
34 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • MARCH 2013
commercially successful footwear at this price, along with 24 hour delivery and single pair repeats. This is why Lunar continues to grow year on year.
Where are you based and where do you manufacture? Lunar is based in Cramlington. Our footwear is made all over the world.
How many people do you have working for you? Do you have a high turnover of staff? We currently have 25 in our Head office and
five representatives in the field covering the whole of the UK and Ireland. We have an extremely low turnover of staff. As a fifth generation footwear man, I (we) understand the roles that every one of our staff perform, as we’ve been there and done it ourselves. We therefore respect each of our employees, and have built a mutual trust with each and every one. This makes for a very happy team who ultimately work together to achieve the same aim.
How do you market your products? Do you use social networking? We regularly use a selection of trade press to
communicate information about our new ranges, but the majority of our brand growth is from recommendation and from our representative’s relentless promotion of our brand with new and existing customers within the retail environment.
Any famous customers? Miss Great Britain contacted us last year to tell us she was a fan of our Elegance collection.
And, the next step? Any plans for the future, new lines etc? We have recently began working with
Goodyear and are now producing a comprehensive range of Men’s Footwear, which includes a new range of Formal Footwear, Wellingtons and Slippers, with the future bringing a range of Safety Footwear.... We are also looking to improve our trade
website & are recruiting a web designer to join us at our HQ, as well as an additional shoe designer. We will continue to develop the Lunar range,
recently releasing a new ‘feminine cut’ wellington – which is fast becoming one our most popluar lines.
How do we contact you? You can contact our head office via 01670 716878or our representatives via the following numbers; Key Accounts and Northern England
Alex Richardson: 0797 4 001296
(
alexrichardson1@hotmail.co.uk) Midlands
Nick De Pinna: 07791 619267 (
nickdepinna@googlemail.com)
Southern England
John Andrews: 07966 016059 (
grs.johnandrews@
yahoo.co.uk) Northern & Southern Ireland Paul Stewart: 07805 896097 (
paulstewartgrs-footwear@hotmail.co.uk) Scotland Adrian McGill: 07711 043977 (
Adrian@amcgill.fsbusiness.co.uk)
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