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St. Tammany Parish:
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What Do You Get the Man
Who Has Everything? |
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by Stacey Paretti Rase
Long ago, shoes were individually made. For people, by other people. There was a personal relationship between the shoe-maker and the shoe-wearer, and shoe factories were family-owned businesses. Today, that relationship has fallen by the wayside. Huge corporate factories in Asia make shoes for huge corporate brands, which sell to huge corporate retail chains. The shoe-maker and the actual shoe-wearer are completely unknown to each other. Wally Rosenblum hopes to change that.
Wally’s Mandeville fine clothing store for men, H. W. Rosenblum, offers custom-fit shoes by Otabo, designed for your feet only. The unique concept uses a laser-based optical foot scanner—one of only fourteen such machines throughout the nation—that employs four lasers and eight cameras to capture more than 200,000 data points on the foot, creating a true 3-D model in only four seconds. In only two weeks, your shoes are created by Otabo, using the finest leathers and materials from around the world.
The fit is not as simple as just measuring your feet; it requires an understanding of your individual preferences. You can choose a snug or loose fit, incorporate orthopedic support, and even integrate special arches into the shoes’ design. And since no two feet are identical (not even your own), a specific shoe is made for each foot.
“I have one customer from New York who was in town and came in for a fitting,” says Wally. “His shoe size is a 13A—nearly impossible to find. He can’t believe the comfort and the fit of his shoes.” Wally also tells of a satisfied customer who wears a size 5 men’s shoe. “He was from Atlanta, but heard about our machine here. He only needed to be scanned that first time and now he can call in to simply choose a different style to be made.”
Otabo’s styles range from the classic American leather oxford to the suave suede English oxford to the popular spectator wing tip. And when customers don’t find a style that they prefer, they can submit their ideas and the company’s design team will do their best to add it to the collection. A line of golf shoes is in the works now—inspired by a customer design request. And Wally says that he has been receiving many calls lately requesting custom fit shoes for women. Our guess is that Mrs. Claus will be calling real soon!
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