Dear Readers,
The day has finally come and I am so anxious that it’s hard for me to even write. For those of you whom have created your own website and did most of the content yourself, you will know what I am talking about. That being, the e-commerce site for my shoe line, J.FitzPatrick Footwear, is now officially live. It has been a long time coming and it feels weird to even think that it is now ready to be shared with the public. And now is where the real work begins.
I wanted to launch this in March, but like most deadlines for big projects, it got delayed. And in reality there are still things to add to the site, like a refurbishment program that I am trying to put together for J.FitzPatrick wearer’s as well as the standard page explaining the quality/making of my shoes. Two things that I didn’t feel were necessary in delaying anymore the launch of the site, but two things needed for future international expansion.
To kick it all off, we have offered a FREE WORLDWIDE shipping from now until the end of the month. This is limited to only purchases that have shoes in the basket. If you only buy accessory products, shipping will be charged. So now is the chance to take advantage of big ticket and/or heavy items, especially if you live far away that usually incurs a high shipping rate. You might notice that on very few of the models there are some gaps in sizing. This is because some excited readers emailed me previously in order to acquire their pair first and unfortunately on certain models and in certain sizes, there is only a stock level of 1 pair. That being, if you fall within the ends of the spectrum of sizes, you might want to act fast as there is typically one 1 pair per each uncommon size.
There has been a slight increase in shoe prices as the cost of leather went up in the last year. I absorbed that increase as I did not want to make my shoes more expensive before my brand was 1 year old. I tried to keep this as small a change as possible with most shoes only increasing £5 and boots £10. In the meanwhile, I have added new things to my shoes, like a complimentary shoe horn and have made the dustbags of higher quality. I am also doing more things in the background to constantly improve the shoes and make the value for money even stronger. But of course, like most of the industry and the world of products/services, prices do have to increase every now and then. I will always do my best to make that increase minimal.
I won’t claim to have made the best nor the coolest website in the world, but what I tried to do was make it clean, professional and concise. Imagery for me should do the work and I only put what writing I felt necessary. I hope that you all really enjoy it and like the new models that are out for Spring/Summer 2014. If you are a fan of The Shoe Snob and my line, I would greatly appreciate any organic traffic that you could create by spreading the site on. As always I thank you all for all of your support and for those of you that are coming to my launch party at Timothy Everest on April 10th, I look forward to seeing you there! Happy Shopping and have a great weekend!!
http://www.jfitzpatrickfootwear.com/
Sincerely,
Justin, “The Shoe Snob”
Congratulations Justin! Exciting times. I look forward to making my first purchase (I lurrrrve the Rainier and the Greenwood). I was thinking about your excellent accessories range – have you thought about putting together a ‘presentation’ box set for the shoe care range? Source a nice quality wooden box (you could go really quite funky if you wanted to, e.g. use an exotic or interestingly-grained wood), have internal fitments for keeping the brushes, cloths etc tidy, and people choose their desired creams. Maybe the standard package comes with two colours in the price and additional colours can be added for a cost. It would make a great gift, IMHO. Just something that crossed my mind! J
thank you James!! I too look forward to you getting your first pair 😉 I have thought about it but not in a nice expensive box, as in reality they are costly and hard to sell….i do want to put together some kind of package, but it has just not been a priority as of late…soon enough, soon enough!
Lookin’ good! Love the blue suede oxfords and the burgundy bal boots, in particular.
thanks Roger! Looking forward to you getting your pair to hear your thoughts
BIG CONGRATS on the launch of the site Justin. Really happy for you !!! also loving the blue suede oxfords.
Thanks LT as well as for all of your support over the years!
Congratulations! The site looks good, but the shoes looks even better. On the last picture here the navy suede looks darker than on previous pictures by the way.
thanks John B! yea that is weird, it is darker here than on the same picture in the site….think it is more accurate on the site..
Great site Justin!
Is it just me that can’t find the place where to select which sole you want on your shoe? Or am I being blind.
Martin unfortunately each shoe comes with a designated sole which it will say in the facts section of each shoe. Changing a sole on a shoe would be a Made to Order purchase and that needs to be done via email. Sorry -Justin
Very nice job, Justin !
A very smooth, clean and clear website. It’s good to have an easy overview of your great shoe range. I particularly like de photos of the worn shoes, I love to see them alive 🙂
No doubt your hard work on this new website will rocket your business !
Oh, one last word,
perhaps you could add a brief description of your different lasts, fitting and quality, like it used to be indicated there https://theshoesnobblog.com/j-fitzpatrick-shoe-range (*before* the new redirection to http://www.jfitzpatrickfootwear.com/) :
– Shoes are benchgrade quality with some handgrade attritbutes
– All leather soles have closed channels, rubber soles have open channel
– All fit fairly standard e.g. if you usually take a UK10, then you should also take a UK10 in mine
– Last TMG fits similarly to C&J 341 (but not exactly)
– Last JKF/LPB/MGF fit closely to the C&J 358 last, subsequently C&J’s 348 fits similarly too
– Lasts TMG (more rounded) & JKF (more pointed) are made from my personal bespoke lasts (but obviously adjusted to fit the average foot and then tried and tested by industry experts). Last TMG was made by Tony Gaziano, Last JKF was made by me whilst at Stefano Bemer’s, under his guidance. Last MCF is an existing last with a proven fit. Last MGF is my chisel toe and LPB is my soft chisel. All lasts (with exception of MCF) are based off of the fit of the TMG, taking the body of the TMG and simply adding new toe shapes to ensure a consistent fit. There is no reason to be one size in one of my lasts and another size in another last.
Thanks for the suggestion Christophe…am working toward compiling all of that information in various forms without it be so blunt….the website is an ongoing piece of work
Wow, such sublime designs…if there is any justice you’ll get massive press attention and orders from all over the world.
thanks for that….i hope that justice is served soon! 😉
Great shoes! Great design! Congratulations and all the best in this new time.
thank you Juan Manuel!