Category Archives: General News

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

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!

 

Justin Blair & Company 2018 Holiday Hours

Holiday are here—jump for joy

Jump for joy—holidays are here! We want to make you aware of our holiday office and warehouse closures, so that you can plan your orders accordingly.

Justin Blair offices will be closed Monday and Tuesday, December 24-25, as well as Tuesday, January 1—no orders will be processed or shipped on these days.

The last shipping day for 2017 orders is Friday, December 28, so place your order by Thursday, December 27 (based on product availability).

Our annual physical inventory will be conducted Wednesday through Friday, January 2–4, 2019—no orders will be processed or shipped on these days.

Thank you for doing business with us in 2018—we wish you a prosperous year ahead!

P.S. check out our 2018 Holiday Gift Guide for a selection of giftable products that your customers will love for gift-giving and stocking stuffers.

RECAP: 2018 Justin Blair Summer Sales Meetings

The 2018 Justin Blair Summer Sales Meetings wrapped up earlier this month and we enjoyed meeting with representatives from Thermoskin, Soul Insole and Apex, as well as several others.

Our goal is always to stay on the leading edge of shoe and foot care, so we are thrilled to announce several new products that will soon be available. Thermoskin POP display from Justin Blair

Thermoskin POP Display

This compact, point-of-purchase counter display from Thermoskin features three best-selling products: Arthritic Gloves, Thermal Circulation Slippers and Sport Knee Stabilizer. Single-product displays are also available. Buy online or contact your Territory Manager to learn more and see a sample.

Soul Insole Shoe Bubble from Justin Blair

Soul Insole Shoe Bubble Orthotic

The Soul Insole Shoe Bubble is a micro-size orthotic support that adds maximum comfort to any shoe, while relieving pain with soft memory gel. Washable and reusable with no odor (antibacterial/antimicrobial).

 

Apex Petal footwear from Justin Balir

New Footwear and Orthotics from Apex

Petals, Apex’s new leather and canvas line of footwear, will be available in early September.

Their newest innovation, the A-Wave Foot Orthotics, is available in three densities (Flex, Firm & X-Firm) and will also be available in September.

 

Justin Blair Buyer's GuideUpdated Justin Blair Buyer’s Guide

We are also finalizing our latest edition of the Buyer’s Guide, which details all of the products we offer. Stay tuned for the release in the coming months. 

If you don’t have a copy of the current Buyer’s Guide, please contact our Customer Service department at (800) 566-0664 or info@justinblair.biz to be added to our mailing list. 

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 these new products are available.

New product demo video series

How to waterproof shoes with Aquatec

We just launched a new series of product demos on our YouTube channel! These videos are perfect for showing the benefits of our products to your customers.

Watch our first video on How to Waterproof Shoes with Aquatec SprayHow to waterproof shoes with Aquatec demo video

And stay tuned for our next video on how to properly use a shoe stretcher.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see new videos as they are released. 

2017 Justin Blair Summer Sales Meeting is a success!

Justin Blair 2017 sales meeting recap

Left to right: Justin Blair Chief Sales Officer Scott Weinstein smiles at the great 1st half results our Territory Managers posted this year. Rob Cooper from Core Products presents to the JB team.

The Justin Blair Summer Sales Meetings wrapped up last week and we would like to thank all who attended: Jason Hoane of Powerstep, Josh Higgins of ING Source, Jason Bates and Rob Cooper of Core Products, Larry Goodman of Apex Foot Health Industries (an OHI company), Kate Spezia of Knit-Rite and via Skype, Tom Traver of Orthozone (Thermoskin).

Powerstep

Powerstep discussed new and exciting products that will become available in 2018.  Be on the lookout for more detailed information later on in the year

Orthosleeve

Orthosleeve presented their FDA medical grade compression products for more active lifestyles and talked about how to improve turns at the retail level. They presented the FS4, a new 200 needle sock that is seamless, moisture wicking, anti-microbial with a lighter compression than FS6 and appropriate for everyday use.  A new full line retail display is in the works—more information will be available soon.

Therafirm

Therafirm presented the following new products: Sheer patterns (Ease), singles for doctors (ideal for vein centers), arm lymphedema sleeves (30-40% lower than Jobst)

Apex

Apex discussed their new Copper Socks (available to ship from us on 8/1).  Their VP of Sales, Larry Goodman spoke of continued improvements in their 3PL operations.  Efforts continue to make Apex the best brand of comfort footwear in the industry.

Justin Blair Updates

We also discussed possible enhancements to return policies, updated processes to improve the experience for first time customers and customer service errors, as well as continuing efforts to make working with Justin Blair meet our philosophy of “Doing business, made easy!”

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

 

Winner of 2015 Employee of the Year Award

We are proud to announce that Jesus Tenorio, warehouse receiving associate, has won this year’s Employee of the Year Award.  Jesus has been with Justin Blair for over 10 years, working diligently in our warehouse.  He comes to work everyday with tenacity and dedication to Justin Blair by always going above and beyond.  We offer Jesus our gratitude for all his hard work with this award plaque and special gift from Justin Blair.

Jesus receiving Employee of the Year award from Marvin Bearak – President

Winner of 2014 Employee of the Year Award

We are proud to announce that Janet Quezada, customer service representative, has won this year’s Employee of the Year Award.  Janet has been with Justin Blair for over 10 years, working in different departments throughout her tenure.  She comes to work everyday with passion and dedication to Justin Blair by always going above and beyond with not only customers, but also with other Justin Blair employees.  Over the past year Janet has become the cornerstone of our customer service department.  We offer her our gratitude for all her hard work with this award plaque and special gift from Justin Blair.2014_EOTY_Janet 2014_EOTY_Presented EOTY_Award

UPS Shipping Changes

Dear Justin Blair Customer,

We want to take this opportunity to inform you of some significant changes to how UPS calculates shipping charges starting in 2015. Both UPS and FedEx have decided to apply their dimensional weight formula to all packages for all shipments starting January 1, 2015. Per UPS’s notification letter:

On June 17, 2014, UPS announced that dimensional weight will be used to calculate the billable weight of all UPS® Ground services and UPS® Standard to Canada packages in the U.S. beginning December 29, 2014*. Customers will be charged the larger of either the dimensional weight or the actual weight.

Dimensional weight pricing enables us to more appropriately align rates with costs, which are influenced by both the size and weight of packages. Dimensional weight pricing also encourages reductions in excess packaging materials and overall package sizes, leading to related reductions in fuel use, vehicle emissions and transportation costs.

This change will most probably increase shipping charges for small shipments by more than 10%. For example, a UPS ground shipment of one pair of shoes, with an actual weight of 4lbs, will now weigh 9lbs per its dimensional weight. The dimensional weight will increase the shipping cost over using the actual weight by roughly 12%.

This change affects every shipper using UPS or FedEx. Everyone’s shipping costs will rise, no one is exempt from this new policy. Justin Blair is dedicated to investigating options to minimize this increase where possible, but we already make every effort to ship your orders using the most efficient packaging. Additionally, Justin Blair may make some operational changes to mitigate the the potential impact this will have on our business.

We are sending this notice to you today to make sure you are fully informed of the upcoming change. You will receive an additional notice towards the end of December as a reminder. For additional information we recommend visiting UPS to learn more about the new policy by going to ups.com/dimweight or ups.com/packaging.

Thank you for your support

Justin Bearak
Chief Operating Officer
Justin Blair & Company