Portland and the Shoe Industry (Beaverton, Beaver: prices, food, designers)

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The shoe industry has been a big thing here for decades, employing thousands of people. Portland, or rather Oregon I suppose, is a world leader in shoes and athletic apparel much as it is in tech.

Then it struck me: what we have here are the admin offices. The designers, the marketers, and myriad behind-the-scenes people. I can go to any farmers market and meet the person who grew my apple, but there's no way I could visit Nike in Beaverton and meet the person who made my shoe. To do that, I'd have to travel around the world to some near-slave-labor factory in China or Vietnam or something.

Someone made my shoes, and I have no idea who he or she is. This is true for all the shoe companies in town to my knowledge; look at the label on the shoe or shirt or sock or cap or whatever, and you'll find that this "local" product comes from thousands of miles away.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that the shoe companies still employ some people in this country too, and especially in Oregon. But does anyone know of an actual cordwainer / shoemaker around here - someone who actually makes the shoes?

[pdxMIKEpdx]

I know of one place:

Custom Shoes | Crary Shoes

There are probably other shoemakers around though.

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Thanks pdxMIKEpdx!

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I think there are some work boots still made in Oregon. (in Portland)

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I hope so; you'd think so fundamental a craft should have been here since Lewis and Clark.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

I just know of Crary Shoes because one of my kids had some custom workboots made there.

I just got done poking around their website and saw the prices for custom boots.

HOLY CRAP!

[SETabor]

Danner and Keen both make some of their shoes in the Portland area.

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Originally Posted by SETabor

Danner and Keen both make some of their shoes in the Portland area.

Good to know! Thanks!

[EnricoV]

Being "closer" to the person who's producing the food I put into my body than to the person who fabricates something I put on the outside of my foot are two very different standards.

But there do seem to be lots of shoes handmade in Portland. Here are a just a few a Google search turned up:

ExIT Shoes
Soft Star Shoe
Romagno Shoes
Reid Elrod Shoes

Of course, with artisan crafters, you're going to be paying a lot more money.

[SETabor]

West Coast Shoes makes their boots in Scapoose. From their website, they're gorgeous but they're expensive.