Golf Shoes Since 1857! But No Longer…
It’s a hard life at the moment and the world of golf shoes and the largest maker of golf shoes are not immune…
Although the history is a bit patchy (and I’d imagine a little smoothed over to ensure continuity from the earliest date!) the company that is now FootJoy has had a factory in Brockton, Massachusetts since 1857. The company was made up from The (Burt then/or) Jones & Packard Shoe Company but by merger or acquisition (???) they became Field and Flint who developed a range of golf shoes known by the current name of FootJoy. (The name was first coined in 1925.)
In 1919, there were 39 shoe manufacturers in the city with some 13,000 employees. The town was known as Shoe-City.
Chosen by Walter Hagen in 1927 as the official golf shoe of the new Ryder Cup, FootJoys went from strength to strength. By WW2 the golf shoes were the top shoe on the PGA Tour shoe-count – a postion FootJoy have claimed ever since!
In the 1950’s the company had another change of ownership and the factory moved – within the town.
But today the town that was such a part of the FootJy Golf Shoe story is to no longer feature (with loss of jobs I’m afraid). FootJoy will have no factories in the USA but will retain one in China (no surprise there). The Dry Premiere, the Tour etc will be coming to you from China from now on!
I can find very little about this story directly from any FootJoy source but there is a quote from Jim Connor, FootJoy’s President, “This was a very difficult decision made necessary by the declining demand for premium welted, leather-soled, golf footwear.”
DOES THIS BODE BADLY FOR ALL QUALITY GOLF SHOES?
You’d hope that the shoes will retain the quality so as not to hasten any further drop in demand. I would advise them however to take the website tour of the facility off their main website as that’s neither tactful to those involved or a representation of future production!
