Shoe Entrepreneur Started In Neighbor’s Garage
Holey Soles manufactures, distributes and sells clog-like polymer foam and rubber-compound shoes distinguished by their holes. The closed-cell foam prevents bacteria from seeping in, while a rubber mixture provides extra bounce and more cushion on hardwood floors. The soles contain nubs that stimulate bloodflow while holes create airflow that keep your feet cool on hot days and warm on cold ones.
Holey Soles started from a Vancouver garage. It now has 70 employees and offices in China, Belgium and Barbados. Shoes are sold in 35 countries under the Holey Soles brand and private labels.
Billing itself as a lifestyle-products company, Holey Soles also peddles accessories to go along with the shoes. This year, the company aims to have $20 million in revenue after posting $11.5 million last year. Not bad, considering that Groote’s initial investment was $80,000.
Read more.
Photo by Bayne Stanley.
annalaura brown on November 10th, 2007 9:16 pm
I love these shoes. What a great idea.
Jackie on November 11th, 2007 1:17 am
I don’t like any sandals that fit between the toes and look like plastic. I also don’t wear crocks. I prefer just wearing casual shoes with denim type material tops.
Always fun to visit and see how my blogs are doing. One near $100,000 now and it is just as thrilling as when I first went under 100,000 at Technorati :) Thanks for the great widget.
Jenn on November 11th, 2007 9:31 am
I am always trying to think up something new and not-yet-done – it amazes me how releasing a product so similar to something else out ther e(like these vs crocs) can explode as well. Makes me reconsider my focus sometimes. Thanks!
Jenn
Seeds For Wealth on November 11th, 2007 10:59 pm
Hi, I’m new to your blog, kinda. I’ve seen your blog about a year ago, liked it then but never caught on.
Lately, your blog keeps standing out within all my RSS subscriptions. All your posts are excellent and exactly what a new entrepreneur wants to read. Creative success stories and solutions.
Well, if no one has said it before, I hope my testimonial will be the first: “No other blog compares to Dane Carlsons’s Business Opportunities Weblog. It’s simply the best, period!”
Seriously, every post is inspiring at this time in my life as a new entrepreneur, I like to surround myself with only the most positive experiences of others. I grow off their confidence to be confident myself, and isn’t that what sales are all about? Passing your confidence.
Anyways, love your blog! Way to go Dane.
Allan King on January 1st, 2008 7:45 pm
Holey Soles is one of the worst Canadian Companies. They have terrible employment practices. Joyce Groote is one of the worst woman entrepreneurs in the 21st century. To those of you who are reading this please be cautions and be sensible before buying the clogs. There are alternatives companies like crocs from who you can purchase the same types of shoes. Crocs have better selection and have good employment practices. There will be more things posted about holey soles in the near future and more will be said about its atrocious employment practices. Those of you who want to join me in this campaign to take down such a horrible company that claims to be Canadian please do so by checking for a blog in the near future. Maybe Joyce Groote deserves another pie in the face.
Angela Dempsey on February 29th, 2008 12:45 pm
Joyce Groote and the Holey Soles team leaves much to be desired when it comes to business practices, particularly when it comes to employment. It’s a well-known fact that there have been legal, albeit contriversial, firings of some employees, including the recent dismissal of a pregnant woman shortly after upper mangement found out she was pregnant.
Joyce herself has also been known to ask her employees to fabricate numbers and it is not uncommon for the sales teams’ numbers to contradict the accounting teams numbers by several hundred thousand dollars, an issue that has plagued the company. Joyce and her sales team blame it on poor software, but who honestly knows WHAT their actual numbers are.
Companies like this should be avoided. Granted there are pros and cons to every business, but there are some businesses that should not be allowed to survive.
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