Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Shoe Drive for Haiti Earthquake Victims


Dear Friends:

We are deeply saddened by the tragedy unfolding in Haiti. As you know, the capital city of Port-au-Prince and its many surrounding shantytowns were decimated by a large 7.0 earthquake. Soles4Souls is working with 12th Street Shoes and many other trusted partners to provide thousands of boots and shoes to help survivors locate others trapped in the rubble and begin the rebuilding process.

Our hearts break for a population already reeling from a series of natural disasters and abject poverty
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What can you do? Along with other vital donations, such as medical supplies, food, potable water tablets and blankets, a pair of solid shoes is absolutely necessary in order to participate effectively in rescue and rebuilding efforts. The amount of broken glass, twisted metal and raw sewage is staggering. We are asking you to find and give the most appropriate footwear to help the victims of this awful disaster.

Beginning Friday, Jan. 29th, through Sunday, Feb. 28th, 12th Street Shoes will be collecting monetary donations as well as gently worn shoes for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. All donations will directly support relief efforts. Customers will receive $5 off their purchase of a new pair with their donation. We are accepting shoes for men, women and children. In addition to the discount, 12th Street Shoes will be covering the cost of shipping the donated shoes to the warehouse operated by Soles4Souls®.
haiti image

Soles4Souls is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of people like you. They distribute these shoes, free of charge, to people in need around the world. Since 2005, Soles4Souls has given away over 7 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes (currently distributing one pair every 9 seconds). The shoes have been distributed in 125 countries, including Haiti, Kenya, Nepal and the United States.


Please help us in our efforts to help those in need in Haiti. If you have any questions, please contact 12th Street Shoes at 360-733-2066. Please forward this information on to anyone else that can help this cause. We greatly appreciate your support! Take care -

Jody Finnegan
Owner - 12th Street Shoes

Friday, January 22, 2010

Oetzi3300 - New Shoes










This is so very exciting! We just received a shipment of Oetzi3300 shoes. It is pronounced "oot-zee". There are only about 10 stores in the country that are carrying them. It is a brand spanking new line - just introduced in October of last year. The CFO of the company happened to be in Bellingham and he stopped in to show us the shoes. They are awesome! Right now they are only making the little casual shoe but they plan on expanding the line.

This is from the press release from the company:

OeTZI3300 is the future of Comfort Sneakers... ! We have incorporated the best of cork footbed technologies ( the antimicrobial properties found in the cork as well as the Custom Organic Fit achieved with this natural fiber), as well as a styling that fits our everyday street culture, not to mention the quality of the materials we use to ensure a lasting comfort story.

Our name is a story in itself and believe it or not, dates back to 3300BC with Oetzi the iceman... and in particular the shoes he was discovered with!...

Below is a link to a website that shows Oetzi the Iceman. Pretty interesting. They say, this is one of the first pair of known shoes.

Oetzi website










The shoes are so comfortable. They have a cork footbed inside and a wide toe box so all your little piggies have planty of room to roam. The suede is so soft. The shoes also come in an eco-friendly little tote. No shoebox. The bag is pretty fun - a little hard to store in our backroom but we are making it happen. The forest green color is my favorite.
This is a picture of the little bag the shoes come in. For whatever reason, my computer will not let me turn the image so sorry about that : )

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Dansko Instep Rescue

I don't mean to focus on Dansko, but I own so many that I tend to want to share all I can so everyone loves them too! I guess I am a bit of a Dansko pusher : ) I know everyone has their own little foot issues, for me, I have a bone that sticks up on the top of my foot. It is hard for me to sometimes fit my foot into a Dansko clog. I have had the clog leave a bruise on the top of my foot because it was way too tight. The rest of the shoe felt great but it just sits right on that bone.

Well, if you are like me, I can help you. A customer about 3 years ago came into the store with a very similar problem. What she told me to do was to take out the foam that is inside the band that goes across your foot. So I tried it with one of my tight clogs. OMG!!!!!! That made all the difference in the world. I went ahead and performed this surgery on all my other Dansko clogs. It just takes a sharp knife and a little patience. The foam is glued down so you have to cut the entire length. Once you pull out the foam, just glue the leather back down. Trust me, it is pure heaven once that foam is gone!

I tried to take some pics - don't know if you can completely see what I am trying to say, but as always, feel free to give me a call, I would be happy to help you out.

and yes I know, my fingernails need a manicure : )

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Winter Clearance Sale

It is time to clear out the winter boots and shoes and make way for all the new Spring shoes. Starting today, Winter shoes and boots are marked up to 50% off. We have even marked down the socks, tights and gloves. The sale ends Feb 1st. Come early for best selection!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Everything Old is New Again - Dansko!

Since it is the start of a new year, a thought it would be appropriate to start it off by showing you how to make your old Danskos look new again. Whitney let me use her Dansko clogs as the guinea pigs. I have seen worse shoes than these - maybe you even have some in your closet. It is really easy to make them look good again. Use this method on the cabrio leather Danskos.









The first very first step is to clean them off with a leather cleaner. You want to make sure you remove any dirt, oil and all the other fun stuff that you may have dropped on your shoes. I then mask off the soles with painters tape - doesn't take very long. This way you don't get any of the spray on the soles.









Now for the fun part - yeah! It is just like spray painting. But do it with light, easy strokes, letting the spray dry in between. Almost forgot to tell you what type of spray to use : ) We used Meltonian black color spray. You can purchase it at any shoe repair store. We don't yet sell it but we probably will in the near future.Make sure you go lightly and do it in multiple layers to get the best result. After the spray is dry, I polished them up with a cordovan polish. I probably put a little to much black spray on them but they still look great.

Ta-dah!Here is the finished product - not too bad! The spray will run you about $15. But that is so much cheaper than a new pair of shoes! Dansko will also replace the insoles for free - just ask and we can get you a new pair. Pretty easy! Now you don't have to just use those ratty looking Danskos for gardening. Give us a call if you run into any trouble making them look pretty again!