Cesar Baez (left) and Wade Salchert.
cosmetic dentistry or “making things beautiful,” so the fast friends soon set off on a number of excursions to check out potential manufacturers for their original designs in China, India and Mexico. Tey ended up making deals in Mexico and India where they were able to arrange a more startup production scale. Te shoes themselves are Goodyear welded; “sort of a
gold standard for men’s shoe manufacturing across the world,” says Wade – and, in true Winnipeg fashion, don’t break the bank. You can nab many of the trio’s original designs for about
$200, and end-of-season sales sometimes let you walk away with the shoes feeling like a thief. Shoes have been marked down to as low as $32. Since following through on an idea born from discus-
sions at a bar, business has been good for Jose & Markham in its flagship store in Winnipeg’s Exchange District and online.
Its shoes are sold on
Shoeme.com set at the same
price you’d find them at the Winnipeg store, and Jose & Markham’s footwear can also be picked up at its down-
The Hub
town neighbours’, EPH Apparel (a youth-owned custom suit retailer on Garry Street) and the Lennard Taylor store in Portage Place mall. Jose & Markham’s stylish, elegant, and sometimes flashy shoes are covering the feet of many of the better dressed Winnipeggers and discerning men from around the world due to its online sales. “We’re already at the point where we’re doing more
production; we’ve increased our MOQ (minimum order quantity),” says Wade. “We’re looking at launching other boutiques like this and other locations to wholesale.” Since opening their store at 73 Princess St., the partners could ascertain they were onto something when the shoes caught on in Winnipeg’s tough test market. Knowing the rigidity of Winnipeggers’ budgets and
some locals’ continued reluctance to go downtown, they knew the venture could be a risk. “Because I live down- town, I love it,” says Wade. But “We knew ‘if it works downtown in this location, this brand is going to be suc- cessful.’” Mission accomplished.
Fall 2014 • 25
Photos by Brenlee Coates.
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