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32 Shoeman
Fernandes’ arrangements were rock solid. He would always collect and deliver me to the airport or, later, the Gare du Nord. I regarded this as a compliment. He was so organised he went around Paris to his shops mainly by car yet had no conscience about where he parked and never got a ticket whilst I was with him. He lived in a central arrondissement in Paris in a large rst- oor apartment in an old three-storey building. It was located behind shops and entered through an archway and had a large open courtyard. In London it would have been pulled down and developed. The whole experience with another French eccentric was a challenge and a pleasure. We sometimes had time in my day visits for lunch. His knowledge of restaurants was to be valued. We ended up with stock of his product. This was sold in our factory shop without a problem.
ADDITIONAL FRENCH WELTED
We did make volume classic welted orders for Eram and Bata – both dominant retail- ers in France. It was much easier but far less personal contact to get the French feel. Eram’s headquarters and distribution centre was at a large complex in a small village, Saint Pierre Montlimart, near Cholet the capital of the shoe trade in Brittany. They were shoe manufacturers that had progressed into retail many years ago and the retail was winning. They were, at the time, the largest French shoe retailer and are now massive in shoes and clothing. The buyer spoke no English so Sylvia had to accompany me. He was quite happy with this situation. It was a simple and repet- itive range and worked with one or two visits a year. It lasted for three years then the demand faded. We were able to tie up with Michele Lambalais our main French Padders selling agent who lived at Rennes which is all in the same area. We were also able to visit some of our retail customers. The market in Brittany was a good Padders market and very like the UK.
Bata had two buying of ces, one in the Northern area in Paris at the then new La Defence, a commercial architectural achievement. The buyer was happy to speak English and, again, we traded for three years until the demand evaporated. The sec- ond of ce was Bata Southern but we only had one order. He, no doubt, was trying the product his northern ally had found successful. The buying of ce was near to Beziers around the corner on the Mediterranean coast on the way to Spain. It seemed sensible to visit them when in Bargemon. I think it was in the Whitsun holiday. We found it a good idea to hire a car like a Renault Clio at Nice on our visit to Bargemon as it was easier to nd a small space in the limited parking available in the village. A Renault Clio is not the ideal car to drive the 250 miles each way and I was not unhappy when they did not reorder. Come to think of it, I still haven’t charged up the diesel and car-hire proportion. Possibly a bit late now!
CLARKS OVERSEAS MILITARY AND POLICE CONTRACTS
COS (Clarks Overseas) were a most consistent Goodyear welted customer. We made contracts for them starting in 1975 after we bought the Clarks Rothwell factory with their welted plant until 1999, the year before we closed the plant. Our rst order in 1976 was our single biggest welted order from COS. Tony Thorner who was the Director of the COS division negotiated an order from the Libyan government for, I think, 100,000 pairs of leather-soled welted cap Oxfords. The problem was, it was