Made in the USA…damnit!
November 18, 2009

The next morning I had to cram a bunch of things into the schedule. First stop was the premiere street/sneaker website, KARMALOOP, which is located in the heart of Beantown across from a very famous park.

We’ve been working with the Loop for a few seasons, however this is the first time they have asked me to come in and do this. They run a very successful web show called Karmaloop TV- Catch them at all the best gigs around the world - from Slate @ Magic to interviewing all the founders and artists of your favorite brands. If you know me, I’m typically lowkey and prefer being behind the lens versus in front of it. This time, I have no choice. (except blacking out my face here). If you want to see the real thing, click here.

Thanks to the Karmaloop production crew.

Jason (686 New England rep) lives in Maine. But like any good rep, he drives way too much. This is what it looks like when he sleeps only a few hours.

This is what his car looks like when he doesn’t clean the hair from his dogs.

For the last part of the day, I was excited to head to New Balance’s Lawrence factory. Check out Lawrence’s industrial powerhouse.

In today’s world, making anything in the States is a rare thing. Making footwear in the USA is non-existent. The exception is New Balance, where they take deep pride in US hand-crafted manufacturing. For over 30 years, Jim Davis (owner of NB) has firmly believed that the best quality workmanship, fit and function all originates in the states. I think it clearly tells it here.

And here

We had our own private tour of the manufacturing area. This nice lady is one of the supervisors of the plant (here for 20+ yrs) who gave us a full-fledged tour.

I’ve been to a lot of factories overseas in the 20 years of doing what I do. What I saw was something I’ve never, and I mean NEVER seen before. What it all came down to is the PROCESS of how they do things. It's all about Efficiency and Safety with a CAPITAL “E” and “S.” I’m actually sworn to secrecy as they had me sign my life away. All I can give you is one shot of the general area (and unfortunately none of the rad things I witnessed)

Well, maybe just one more little thing. NB is into IDEAS.

They are into it so much that they award employees for coming up with better alternatives of doing things. The more stars the better.

One cool thing working with a company that firmly believes in function, fit and performance is that we have full access to their Testing and Research Labs for the NB686 boots. Again, sorry no pictures in here. You're gonna have to believe me when I tell you that the snow industry has never been able to do some of things we did.