COMPANY PROFILE
Tell us about your company history. What’s the story behind the brand? Founded in 2001, Bearpaw was set up by Tom Romeo, with the prime intention of creating comfortable and stylish footwear from sheepskin, nature’s own technical fabric. Tom is still a prominent figure in the brand today, based in our Citrus Heights, California offices and making sure that comfort and style are at the heart of everything we do.
Do you have a brand philosophy? “Live Life Comfortably” is the Bearpaw mission statement, so all product needs to have comfort at the core. Beyond that Bearpaw is very much a modern American brand, with a ‘work hard/play hard’ culture, and a strong concern for the environment, with the “Green Team” in Head Office fully focussed on sustaining the environment for future generations. Staff are also encouraged to support their community in the form of voluntary work, Bearpaw employees engaging charitable projects in the community since day one.
What sets your company’s products apart from the rest? Style, comfort, quality and value – the phenomenal success of Bearpaw in the USA is down to our ability to produce great quality sheepskin product embracing its natural qualities; regulation of temperature so your feet stay cooler and drier in the heat and warmer in the cold. As the brand has expanded, we endeavour to take the same ethos of style/comfort/value and quality into everything we do.
What does Bearpaw mean, in the USA? Bearpaw, as the second biggest sheepskin brand in the world, is very well established on the American High St, with Macys as the biggest customer. Middle America is very familiar with the brand, embracing the relaxed lifestyle that it portrays.
24 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • FEBRUARY 2016
How many people do you have working for you? Do you have a high turnover of staff? In the USA offices there is an incredible staff loyalty, with very much a family atmosphere in the office, many of the 60 staff have been with the brand for in excess of ten years… In the UK its slightly different, there are 5 of us, just four agents and myself; Cormac Jones in Ireland, Lee Budworth in Scotland and the north of England, Rob Jones in Wales and the South West and Paul Tobin in the South East – all of us for less than 8 months, so we’ve quite a lot to live up to!
How do you market your products? Do you use social networking? Word of mouth has been an enormous driver for the brand to date, but of course, Social Media is a very important communication tool for us and is a great way for Bearpaw to communicate with its fans. We also offer free POS and there are low minimum orders.
And, the next step? Any plans for the future, new lines etc? As the brand grows globally, the collection is evolving so that we now produce a Summer Collection which carries the same Bearpaw values (if less sheepskin!) and likewise, AW2016 see’s our first ever outerwear collection as the American public are demanding more from their trusted allie, Bearpaw.
For the UK, the prime aim is to build the brand in a
sustained manner through independent footwear retailers and selected National accounts so that we eventually achieve the profile and position of the brand in the States.
How does the Trade contact you? We are showing at Moda and the INDX Show, but the first point of contact would be myself;
s.jepson@
bearpaw.com - 07496 200733
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