NEW! Anti-friction balm for blister prevention

New Products, Shoe care

Give your customers an alternative to chronic shoe pain and toxic blister removers.

Solemates Blister Blocker is a natural, vegan, cruelty free and fragrance free anti-friction balm that helps to prevent blisters when wearing any type of footwear.

By applying a thin layer of the clear Blister Blocker to feet, skin is protected from friction-born blisters. Lasts for up to 6 hours, making shoes more comfortable for all-day wear. Blister Blocker is available in a 0.15 oz tube.

Contact us to learn more and place your order!

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NEW! Heel Protectors to keep high heels looking good

Events

Now you can offer your customers a unique new way to protect their most prized (shoe) possessions.

Solemates Heel Protectors are patented and mechanically engineered to prevent heels from sinking into the grass by increasing the surface area on the bottom of the heel. High heels are protected from dirt, stains or damage—in a discreet and elegant way. They are perfect for weddings or other special events and can be easily carried in a handbag.

We carry the clear Heel Protectors in three sizes to match heel width (Narrow, Classic and Wide) as well as the Complete Collection, a box that conveniently includes all 3 sizes.

Contact us to learn more and place your order for these new and innovative heel protectors!

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Justin Blair & Company 2019 Holiday Hours

Events

Holidays are here…and we don’t want you to miss out on an order! Please note our upcoming holiday office and warehouse closures.

Justin Blair & Company offices will be closed on the following days—no orders will be processed or shipped:
  • Thursday–Friday, November 28–29
  • Tuesday, December 24 (office closes at 2 pm)
  • Wednesday, December 25
  • Tuesday, December 31 (office closes at 2 pm)
  • Wednesday, January 1
The last shipping day for 2019 orders is Monday, December 30 (based on product availability).
Our annual physical inventory will be conducted Thursday–Tuesday, January 2–7, 2020. No orders will be processed or shipped on these days.
We appreciate your business in 2019 and wish you a prosperous new year! 

P.S. check out our 2019 Holiday Gift Guide for a selection of giftable products that your customers will love for gift-giving and stocking stuffers.

Justin Blair & Company Holiday Gift Guide 2019

Events

Justin Blair Holiday Gift Guide 2019This holiday season, help your customers give the gift of happy and healthy feet!

The Justin Blair Holiday Gift Guide features giftable shoe care and foot care-related products that your customers are asking for—including lower-priced items that are perfect for stocking stuffers.

The gift guide includes professional shoe and foot care brands, such as our in-house brand Ralyn Shoe Care, as well as Powerstep, BootRescue and Core Products.

These specially-selected products make great holiday gifts and stocking stuffers—as well as useful office gifts.

For stocking stuffers

For self-care

For office gift-giving

Stock up now and make sure your shoe store or shoe repair shop is ready for the holiday shopping season!

Download our 2019 Holiday Gift Guide (PDF). 

Contact your Territory Manager or orders@justinblair.biz for pricing and to place your order.

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HOW TO: Assembling and Stocking an Angelus Paint Display

New Products

Ready to jump start your store’s Angelus Paint sales?

Watch our Inside Salesman Mark Sheehan demonstrate how fast and easy it is to assemble and stock an Angelus Paint display (actual assembly time: approximately an hour).

The minimal, modular design holds 84 paint colors and allows customers to easily locate and choose the colors they need—without having to give up floor space. The rack can even be hung from a wall with pegboard.

Contact us to learn more and order your Angelus Paint display rack.

RECAP: 2019 Justin Blair Summer Sales Meetings

Foot health, New Products, Shoe care

We had a productive summer sales meeting last month, including daily meetings with our customers and partners—plus a bowling outing (and competition) in the evening.

Thank you to those who attended: Milt Morevak of Pedifix, Jason Bates of Core Products International, Kate Spezia and Evan McGill of Knit-Rite, John Gerick of Apex, Ivan Komashinskiy of Pedag USA, John Blankenship of Powerstep, and Tom Traver of Orthozone (Thermoskin).

Our goal is to stay on the leading edge of shoe and foot care, while offering the products your customers are asking for.

Here are several new product announcements (click the links to go directly to the ordering page):

Powerstep

We have added two (2) new colors to the popular Women’s Fusion sandal collection, Plum & Khaki.

Pedifix

Silicone Tape will now feature new packaging, length options and bulk options.

New products to be added to our selection include: ¾ Length Arch Supports (P5610), Low Shock Gel Heel Straights (P5180), Toe Coaches (P2853), Foot Repair Cream (P3305), and Extra Arches (P1140).

Thermoskin

Their Compression Brace program will simplify a store’s brace offering with less SKUs and product at a lower price point.

Pedag

Pedag handmade insoles

We reviewed their line of handmade winter insoles, including:

Apex

We reviewed the all-new SS100 Slip-On Basis: a unisex, stretchable, washable therapy-extending, socklike slipper.

Thank you again to everyone who attended—we appreciate your support.

And congrats to Justin Bennett of Justin Blair & Company who won the bowling competition this year!

Doing business, made easy…

As always, we appreciate your comments and feedback to make working with us easier—that’s why we call it “Doing business, made easy!”

Join our email list or follow us on Facebook and Twitter to hear first when new products are available.

Back-to-school checklist for shoe repair shops 

Shoe care, , , , ,

This time of year means kids of all ages are heading back to school—and along with them, lots of gear and supplies that may need fixing and polishing. 

We’ve put together a list of common shoe repair and shoe care needs that come up during the back-to-school season.

Review our handy checklist and your shop will be ready for anything your customers ask for this fall:  

Fix a broken backpack

Backpacks are the essential back-to-school supply. Every student needs one and possibly has a favorite with a broken zipper or ripped leather that they can’t bear to part with. Stock up on zippers, sliders, snaps, leather skins, leather strapping, awls, needles and other findings to help them hang onto to their prized possession. 

Clean up my (sneaker) act

Athletic shoes can get dirty and dingy over the summer. Make sure your customers are heading back to school in style by stocking an athletic shoe shampoo (like this one from Ralyn) as well as Sneaker Rescue shoe wipes to keep sneakers looking good on-the-go. 

Waterproof shoes for class-hopping

Students have to venture out in all types of weather during the school year. Make sure you are stocked with a weatherproofing spray, such as Ralyn Aquatec or Moneysworth & Best Campmate Pro-Tex.

Resole a favorite pair of shoes

Kids and adults alike tend to become attached to a favorite pair of shoes. Help your customer get more wear out of their favorite pair with new soles. We recommend Soletech and SVIG full or half soles, which are available in a variety of textures. 

Eliminate the sneaker stink

When gym class is back in session, shoes are bound to get stinky. Help your customers destroy foot odor with the innovative new Ralyn DeoSole shoe deodorizing patch. Or for everyday freshening, the Ralyn Shoe Deodorizer spray. 

Make athletic activities more comfy

Daily sports practices can wreak havoc on a pair of shoes and make them uncomfortable. Stock up on a variety of sports-inspired insoles and orthotics to suggest to your customers, such as the Sneaker Magic Step, Viva Sport and Viva Sneaker by Pedag, as well Powerstep’s Pinnacle Junior, which is made just for kids.

Polish up interviewing skills—and shoes 

Help recent grads make a good impression in their first interview or job by shining up their shoes. Make sure you have all the shoe shine accessories you need, such as shoe polish, shine brushes, shine cloths and fully-stocked shine boxes. And don’t forget to send them home with a DIY solution like the Ralyn Leather Shine Sponge or Angelus Instant Shine.

With a little help from you, your customers will be ready to shine this school year!

Join our email list or follow us on Facebook to hear about new products or specials first.

Made in USA—we proudly support local shoe and foot care businesses

General News, , , , ,

Manufacturing Marketing magazine recently published an issue devoted to USA-made products, including 6th-generation Annin Flagmakers who has been manufacturing USA flags since 1847.

Here at Justin Blair, we have been partnering with locally-made companies since we started our business over 40 years ago.  On the heels of Independence Day in the USA, we would like to acknowledge the shoe care and foot care products we carry that are made in the USA and the manufacturers we partner with who manufacture many (or all) of their products locally.

We also manufacture many of our own products locally, including more than three-quarters of our Ralyn Shoe Care line.

Core Products

Core Products’ best-selling Tri-Core Cervical Pillow and Soft Comfort CorPak Hot & Cold Therapy packs are manufactured at their industrial sewing and textile manufacturing facility in Wisconsin.

Plastazote Sheets

We convert Plastazote—a latex-free, non-toxic and hypoallergenic foam used for orthotic formation that is free from all residual chemicals—in-house in our Chicago facility. As a result of manufacturing locally, we can assure the highest quality—as well as produce custom sheets, strips, or laminates in any size.

Ralyn Shoe Care

Ralyn Shoe Care, our in-house line, is made for shoe care professionals by industry experts. More than 80% of our line is manufactured in the USA, including our top-sellers, Ralyn Aquatec, Ralyn Leather Lotion and Ralyn PediMates.

Disposable Foot Sox

Our brand of disposable foot sox is manufactured at our partner’s dedicated hosiery plant in North Carolina. We sell a range of foot sox used by top footwear retailers, from the top-selling Women’s Disposable Foot Sox, to specialty foot sox such as Men’s Disposable Foot Sox, Disposable Cushioned Athletic Sox and Disposable Trouser Sox.

Join us in celebrating and supporting these manufacturers whose products are MADE IN THE USA!

 

Ralyn Shoe Care makeover: how we updated a local shoe care kiosk

Shoe care, , , ,

 

We recently did a “makeover” on the Shoe Hospital shoe care kiosk in the B Concourse of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

The kiosk offers travelers a quick shoe shine, as well as grab-and-go shoe care products. With a record-setting 79+ million travelers passing through O’Hare each year, we wanted to help Shoe Hospital attract as many potential shoppers as possible, so we upgraded their kiosk with a selection of Ralyn Shoe Care products to appeal to the on-to-go traveler. 

Whether travelers are seeking comfort or needing a quick shoe upgrade, the Shoe Hospital kiosk now offers Ralyn Shoe Care insoles, shoe shapers, travel shine kits and shoelaces—plus our new DeoSole shoe deodorizing inserts and fitting aids to improve shoe fit and comfort (perfect for travelers on long flights).

See our full line of Ralyn Shoe Care products. 

To schedule a shoe care makeover for your kiosk or shop, reach out to one of our sales representatives. 

Tips for protecting shoes in rainy weather 

Shoe care, ,

Spring showers mean May flowers—but they can also wreak havoc on shoes. Make sure your customers are prepared for rainy weather with these easy weather protection tips.

Weatherproof them

A mink oil productwill condition the leather and also make it water repellent (not waterproof, so you still want to limit the shoe’s exposure to water).

For ultimate protection, choose a weather protection spray such as Ralyn Aquatec or Moneysworth & Best Pro-Tex Camp Spray. It adds a water-repellant layer to the shoe—causing water to bead up rather than soaking into the leather.

Cover them up

For total rain protection of dress shoes, good-old rubber overshoes are the way to go. They are 100% waterproof, lightweight and reusable—and also offer extra traction on slippery walking surfaces.

If shoes do get soaked

If shoes get soaked, always let them dry naturally. Never use a heat source to dry (i.e radiator, hair dryer) as this can dry out and damage the leather.

Stuff the inside of the shoes with newspaper and allow them to dry overnight. Inserting a pair of plastic shoe shapers or boot tree will help them retain their shape and prevent shrinkage as they dry.

Treat the leather

If shoes have gotten wet, the leather may become dry or brittle. A leather balm or  leather lotion will soften and condition the leather, bringing it back to life.

Questions about which weather protection products you should offer your customers? Give us a call or email.