As competition for customers increases, and also the demands from these increases, the quality shoe market develops in several ways. One example is that more and more factories and retailers spend more time on the final finishing and polish the shoes by hand before they are sent out to the customer.

 

The example above is from Loake’s factory in Kettering, Northampton, and shows a before and after picture of the shoes from their new top line 1880 Export Grade. They polish up to a light spit shine by hand in the factory, a station recently developed further as a store manager for one of their London shops that worked with finishing at Berluti earlier was up and trained the people in the factory. Also, for example, Crockett & Jones have recently begun to polish their Handgrade models by hand for a much improved finish, J. FitzPatrick Footwear always shine their shoes before they are shipped out, as well as retailers such as A Fine Pair of Shoes. This is things customers could do themselves, but the feeling to get a shoe delivered looking like this is something that is very much appreciated.