A couple weeks ago, we enjoyed an afternoon visit to Port Washington from Mike Allen, the great grandson of Allen Edmonds’ founder, Elbert Allen, and therefore also the grandson and son of Bert and Boyd, the next two generations of family leadership. After Mike toured our manufacturing facility with Jim Kass, our Head of Operations, we all enjoyed a great conversation about the intertwined history of his family and the company. Mike brought in a couple photos from back in the late 1950s -- including the Christmas Card (pictured below) of Boyd, Mrs. Allen and the kids with their AE shoes kicked up on the fireplace wall for all to see. Absolutely priceless.

On his tour, I think Mike was pleasantly surprised at how little the manufacturing process has changed. Yes, we’re more efficient based on our volumes and some workflow engineering, but we still manufacture all of our shoes by hand in the same 212 steps that have been the basis for handcrafting Allen Edmonds shoes since the beginning in 1922. (For more information on how we make our shoes, take a look at our newly designed website, http://www.allenedmonds.com/ and click on the “Craftsmanship” tab). And now we employ over 750 people in our company, most of whom work in Port Washington, just 8 miles from the town of Belgium where Elbert Allen first stated.

Building on the Allen Family legacy, I am pleased to announce the Third Annual Allen Edmonds “Rediscover America” Customer Appreciation Event (aka our Big Fall Sale), which runs September 26th through Columbus Day, October 11th. In addition to saying thank you to those whose loyalty has carried us since 1922, we’re celebrating all American manufacturing and workers, and the quality, craftsmanship, style and service that “Made in USA” has always meant to AE customers at home and abroad. During the sale, our products will be offered at least at 14.92% off (Columbus, you know) in all of our own retail stores, on our website, and through 400 participating Allen Edmonds dealers nationwide. A select list of 12 of our most popular styles of shoes and some accessories will be offered at much bigger savings, too.

Ok, enough plugging and bold font… At the end of our time with Mike, I mentioned that since January 2010 we’ve added over 120 jobs right here at our manufacturing facility in Port Washington. Mike said his great grandfather would be proud. His smile spoke volumes about the Allen family and our work. It makes me especially proud of all of my colleagues, whose dedication and commitment to great American ideals are leading this great company to new heights today.

As always, thank you for your support of Allen Edmonds, and of American manufacturing. It’s because of you that we have been able to continue to create jobs right here, about a snowball’s throw from where Elbert Allen first started in 1922.

Best Wishes,

Paul D. Grangaard

President & CEO

Allen Edmonds Shoe Corporation

My parents grew up through the Great Depression and learned a lot of hard lessons about the value of a steady job. Both of my grandfathers worked for country banks that were wiped out in the banking crisis, and so were their personal finances. My mother’s keepsake silver dollar, minted in her birth year of 1922, was finally needed in 1934 to buy bread for the family, bringing real life experience to the phrase “down to our last dollar.” My dad worked his way through college in North Dakota in the late 1930s, moved to Minneapolis after graduation without a dime in his pocket and, except for his service in WWII, worked for the same company for his entire career.

During the prosperity of the late 1990s, many Americans adopted a “free agent” attitude about their jobs. It was a heady time when “business casual” evolved to where guys dressed literally in running shoes for a quick escape out of the office. In venture capital hotspots, there was constant hopping from one start-up to another, and it seemed those opportunities would never dry up.

Fast forward to 2011 and a stubbornly persistent unemployment rate over 9%. Men’s attire has become more serious and that includes the shoes that they wear both to work and on weekends. This trend has been good for business growth at Allen Edmonds. For me and our leadership team here, the most gratifying part of that growth is the expanded employment that we’ve been able to offer to our community.

We’ve added over 120 new hires in Port Washington, WI since 2010. Many of them had been laid off from other jobs several months or even a couple years before joining us. It’s great to talk to them, see how much they value their jobs and hear about their plans for their families that now are realistic again. And, man, do they take their work seriously, which shows up in the quality of our shoes and our customer service. Nobody’s perfect, but the effort they expend to get as close as possible to perfection is truly inspirational.

On this Labor Day 2011, here’s a special toast to U.S. employees, to U.S. employers, to U.S. jobs, and to never taking any of them for granted.

Best Wishes,

Paul D. Grangaard

President & CEO
Allen Edmonds Shoe Corporation

We have a strong culture among our employees at Allen Edmonds. We work very hard together in common pursuit, and there’s a lot of good natured fun and camaraderie along the way. Those who think work is a stifling place, where people become only vaguely acquainted and cordon off their personal lives, just wouldn’t understand our shop.

I’m blessed with a truly exceptional team, as evidenced by much of what you see in the marketplace, in our products and in our customer service. You can also read it in the newspaper: the Milwaukee Business Journal just named our lovable Senior Vice President and CFO, Jay Schauer, “CFO of the Year” this August. Jay is completely deserving of the honor. He not only tracks every number with a keen CFO skill set, he also has excellent business acumen and knows all about shoe production, Allen Edmonds’ history, our strengths and challenges and our customers. We wouldn’t be where we are today without Jay’s outstanding work and guidance.

August was a big month for Jay. It started with the CFO of the Year award, and ended with a much-anticipated golf outing. Jay hadn’t nearly as much golf experience as the others included in the group. He was a bit nervous about playing a top ranked course with this group, so he took a couple lessons and practiced consistently during the summer. The work paid off as he laced his drive—ok, it was his third drive -- big down the middle on the first hole. The rest of the round, Jay took what I call the “Johnny Miller Philosophy for Businessmen’s Golf” to a higher level than I’d ever seen before.

During a conference years ago, I heard Johnny Miller say that he sees so many amateurs with families and full-time jobs take the game as seriously as PGA Tour players who practice hours a day and have pro golfer talent. We curse ourselves when we hit bad shots and then angrily say, “It’s about time!” when we hit a good shot. Johnny suggested that we have it all wrong -- we should accept bad shots as inevitable in our crammed lives, and say, “All right! Hooray for me!” when the ball ends up where we wanted it to go. As someone whose game took a drastic turn southward a number of years ago, I’ve been trying to heed Johnny’s advice… but it’s easier said than done.

Jay, by contrast, would make Johnny proud. Sure, Jay had his bloopers, but he remained just plain thrilled to be out there. His attitude was really fun and infectious. Then there was his “Hooray for me!” The first time Jay’s foursome came to the Par 3 Seventeenth, the others missed the postage stamp green while Jay hit it to four feet and, after stepping away to slow his racing heart, MADE THE PUTT! The next time around the course, Jay flew that green (maybe too much adrenaline after his earlier birdie?) and had a tough lie. He chopped it out of the gorse and incredibly HIT THE PIN! The ball dropped within gimme distance. Jay whooped and hollered so loud he could be heard in the adjoining State. I was on the 16th green in the second group at the time and we thought he had either just won the lottery or else was trying to start a buffalo stampede. At the post-round lunch, Jay declared himself good-naturedly, “King of Seventeen”. We’ll never forget it (and Jay will make sure we don’t).

Congratulations, Jay! “King of Seventeen” and “CFO of the Year” all at once… Nice month!



Paul D. Grangaard
President & CEO
Allen Edmonds Shoe Corporation

Allen Edmonds is a bipartisan company – we’re supported by loyal customers of both red and blue stripes. In the last year, we’ve also been supported significantly by Wisconsin Governors of both parties and their administrations.

Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, visited our plant in October 2010 to announce a low interest development loan to help finance the growth of our Port Washington plant and employment base. In these times of persistent economic uncertainty and gyrating consumer spending, the financial aid helped us have the confidence to invest in a strategic plant expansion and additional employees. The loan was not officially approved, however, until early 2011, after Republican Gov. Scott Walker took office. Fortunately for the over 100 new hires we’ve added in our plant this year, the transition went seamlessly for us.

Paul Jadin, the new Secretary of Commerce, and his wife Jane visited our plant this summer to see what we’re doing with the aid and also learn more about our operation. It’s clear that Sec. Jadin is a solid choice for this key role. There’s a great manufacturing heritage in Wisconsin and it needs to be vigilantly maintained. I was impressed by both the Secretary’s and his wife’s intense interest in what we do and in how we do it here at Allen Edmonds. Like so many other Wisconsinites, he has been a longtime AE Man.

Since at least 1980, every Republican and Democrat U.S. President has worn Allen Edmonds. We’re deeply honored and grateful to have such fantastic bipartisan support across the nation and in our home state – presidents, congressmen, governors, cabinet members, Republicans, Democrats – AE customers all.

Thank you for your support of this almost 90 year old American employer.

Best wishes,



Paul D. Grangaard
President & CEO
Allen Edmonds Shoe Corporation

Most guys I know have a so-called “bucket list” – the special things they want to do before kicking the bucket. I’ve got mine in my head and I keep it updated. As a big baseball fan, one thing on my list since its first edition has been to attend an All Star Game. I finally had the chance this summer in Phoenix as a guest of our good friends at Major League Baseball. They invited my son to join me as well, and they invited Allen Edmonds to award a pair of shoes to each All Star just before he made his way to the annual Parade before the game. Colin Hall (our SVP of marketing and international business) and Tom Kroepel and Nina Ward from our Phoenix store helped meet the players, fit their feet and award the shoes. It was a ton of fun to see the players (or in many cases their wives) pick out shoe styles from the more fashionable Strawfut (brown calf & Linen), to the recently introduced and trendy McTavish, to the uniquely casual baseball stitched shoe called the Infield.

The players were incredibly gracious and down-to-earth. I had an especially nice conversation with Curtis Granderson, the Yankee centerfielder, who told me that TV makes him look faster than he really is. (What a year he’s having!) I also had the chance to thank the Minnesota Twins’ Michael Cuddyer for his constant commitment to community service – he’s an exemplary guy on and off the field, as was again evident by his classy response to me. Without their caps and uniforms, however, it was hard to tell who many of the other players were. David Ortiz and Prince Fielder were easy to spot, but there were several I didn’t know. One unassuming guy had a friendly conversation with us but I still had no clue who he was. As he filled out a form so we could send the shoes in the right size to his him, I craned to see that he was writing… “C-L-I-F-F—L-E-E”.

My 15 year old son, Blake, had a memorable time, thanks especially to Howard Smith, Greg Sim and Mychal Bogee, our gracious MLB hosts. Howard asked Blake if he played ball (the answer is yes, the kid’s got a promising slider) and then presented Blake with the official All Star Game Oakley sunglasses, which really lit up Blake’s face. Greg and Mychal took us to Chase Field at 7 am on the morning of the Game, where we joined a group of other MLB licensees for a tour of the clubhouse and then headed out onto the field to shag flies, field grounders and take some BP – all off of Diamondback coaches. Blake hammered his first BP pitch into the outfield, breaking a batting slump he felt he was in this summer. (Back home, he would go on to hit a double to the wall and a three run triple in his last two at-bats of the season, so the All Star Game was transformational.) It’s hard to pick Blake’s biggest highlight of the trip, but this one might be it… While I was handing out shoes to players, Greg Sim took Blake over to where his favorite All Star Tim Lincecum was sitting and introduced Blake to him. Greg reported that they seemed equally shy for words – Blake: “You throw really good pitches.” Tim: “Thanks, I try." Yes he sure does.

It was a great couple of bucket list days.

Paul D. Grangaard
President & CEO
Allen Edmonds Shoe Corporation