For those in doubt of Allen Edmond's commitment to quality

Here is an excerpt of a post written by Paul Grangaard, President and, CEO of Allen Edmonds.
It appeared on Ron Rider's blog:



"Regarding customer reactions to our quality, our largest customer by far is Nordstrom and they have a highly sophisticated ~60,000 sq ft facility in Seattle called their Nordstrom Quality Center. There they monitor retailed products(including shoes) that are returned due to quality issues, and they do their own quality assessments of on-the-shelf products, too. I visited them last in November (we go about every 6 months). Our quality scores for 2009 were the highest in history and the highest of any shoe manufacturer. Still, I know our quality can be even more consistent. We've hired a Six Sigma black belt with both U.S. and Asian plant quality control experience to help us implement and manage to an even higher level of QC. We also hired an American expat with over 20 years of shoes, boots, saddles and other leather goods manufacturing experience as our head of quality in the DR plant. As with anything that gets measured and follow-up focus, our internal scores are higher now than before they came."

I've done more for charity than Bono and Bob Geldoff.

You see how anyone can say stuff, even if its not technically true?

There is no question that AE quality has gone downhill over the years and this statement is just a formality of some sorts. I don't disagree that AE has taken some steps towards better quality control, but the product is just being made at a cheaper marginal cost than in the past. Still a decent shoe, but it will never be what it once was.

I don't know about AE's quality, but one thing I do know is that they're ugly. Even if they are good quality, why would you want such heinous monstrosities on your feet?

Originally Posted by Nick V.

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Here is an excerpt of a post written by Paul Grangaard, President and, CEO of Allen Edmonds.
It appeared on Ron Rider's blog:



"Regarding customer reactions to our quality, our largest customer by far is Nordstrom and they have a highly sophisticated ~60,000 sq ft facility in Seattle called their Nordstrom Quality Center. There they monitor retailed products(including shoes) that are returned due to quality issues, and they do their own quality assessments of on-the-shelf products, too. I visited them last in November (we go about every 6 months). Our quality scores for 2009 were the highest in history and the highest of any shoe manufacturer. Still, I know our quality can be even more consistent. We've hired a Six Sigma black belt with both U.S. and Asian plant quality control experience to help us implement and manage to an even higher level of QC. We also hired an American expat with over 20 years of shoes, boots, saddles and other leather goods manufacturing experience as our head of quality in the DR plant. As with anything that gets measured and follow-up focus, our internal scores are higher now than before they came."

Originally Posted by Nick V.

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We've hired a Six Sigma black belt...

This is by far the stupidest name/branding of any certification in business today.

Originally Posted by Joenobody0

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This is by far the stupidest name/branding of any certification in business today.

HAHAHA - I agree totally. Talk about pulling out all the stops!!!

Originally Posted by WRAdvisor

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There is no question that AE quality has gone downhill over the years and this statement is just a formality of some sorts. I don't disagree that AE has taken some steps towards better quality control, but the product is just being made at a cheaper marginal cost than in the past. Still a decent shoe, but it will never be what it once was.

Ho hum. Nothing is as good as what they made in the good old days. People were saying the exact same thing (in general, not referring to AE) 30 years ago.

Six sigma black belt? An american expat?

Why even mention these details? I dislike these kinds of statements that go around actual facts with some diversion to claim something. Truth is, quality is LESS than compared to even a few years ago. I KNOW

I wish AE would get rid of those damn black insoles. Concrete would be more comfortable...

Originally Posted by Xiaogou

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I wish AE would get rid of those damn black insoles. Concrete would be more comfortable...

+1. How can they say they have a commitment to quality when they won't even use a leather insole?

Originally Posted by sho'nuff

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An american expat?

Come on, that's just AE showing their commitment to American manufacturing (in the Dominican Republic)!

Originally Posted by youngScholar

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+1. How can they say they have a commitment to quality when they won't even use a leather insole?

the CEO is more talking about quality control than the use of the highest quality materials

Originally Posted by youngScholar

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+1. How can they say they have a commitment to quality when they won't even use a leather insole?

Boy oh boy! I have to much to say for one post. So, I'll start off with this:
Regarding their insoles, they are leather. They will soon be changing the color from black to a color that is closer to the color of their linings.

Originally Posted by Nick V.

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Boy oh boy! I have to much to say for one post. So, I'll start off with this:
Regarding their insoles, they are leather. They will soon be changing the color from black to a color that is closer to the color of their linings.

Nick, it's not the color that is an issue. Those black (newer) insoles are quite uncomfortable. There is no way that the beige insoles of 10 years ago are the same as the ones being used today.

I honestly can't say I notice a significant difference in QC. I have bought old vintage AEs and they don't look like they are better "assembled" than new ones.

Do you guys understand statistics? It's not valid to say the first 3 pair of AEs you bought didn't fall apart, but the last one blew one stitch, therefore their overall quality MUST be going down. You do not have enough information to make that conclusion. If anyone here works at Nordstrom or at a shoe repair place where you see at least a few AEs per month, I would certainly like to hear their opinion.

Also, like someone said earlier, you have to separate assembly vs. quality of materials issues, unless you just feel like lumping them together. All I know is that the leather on models like the new Strand look as good as anything I have seen on older models.