J FitzPatrick Appreciation Thread

[The Shoe Snob]



Everyone, Wanted to give a quick post about TheShoeSnob Polish vs Saphir MdO polish. I'm certain some of us know TSS is rebranded Saphir, however one poster in the shoe care thread doubted this, so I posted some pictures. I thought it would be helpful here as well for those interested in Justin's products. Cream Polish Wax Polish [COLOR=A74345] [/COLOR] To be extra clear, both products are made by Avel in France. I also have his Mink Oil Renovator, but my Saphir Renovateur so I can't do comparison pictures. I'm also certain Justin's Mink Oil Renovator is rebranded as Renovateur. Save yourself a few bucks!

While I appreciate the plug for a cheaper price, allow me to explain the real truth that few people know. My products come from La Cordonnerie Anglaise aka LCA. They are not Avel. However, about 2 years ago Tarragon (of Spain) bought out both Saphir and LCA (and a bunch other others...basically becoming a monopoly in the shoe care industry), which then were competitors. However since the takeover they now both utilize eachothers stickers, jars, tins etc. I suppose to cut down on costs. As I had heard this from my suppliers I began to enquire about the actual difference between their product and Saphir (which I believe still have different production facilities although I could be mistaken but think not as I believe they are in different cities). My handler as it were began to explain that the only real difference was how they mixed the products i.e. the ingredients are the same but they percentage of each content is different. For example, the two main ingredients in the wax is beeswax and turpentine. But if you smell the two you can see that Saphirs is more heavy in turpentine where as mine is more concentrate in beeswax. The renovateur might be exactly the same as our mink oil, I cant honestly say as I have never tried Saphirs before. But this is the actual truth contrary to what anyone says or thinks. Hope this helps. And pretty much anyone in the high end shoe industry is using rebranded LCA which might as well be Saphir fyi. Saphir only rebrands if you buy 10,000 units

 

[andrel42]

Everyone,

Wanted to give a quick post about TheShoeSnob Polish vs Saphir MdO polish. I'm certain some of us know TSS is rebranded Saphir, however one poster in the shoe care thread doubted this, so I posted some pictures. I thought it would be helpful here as well for those interested in Justin's products.

@rbhan12
Thanks for reminding me! I just order some from Justin (and some cool laces too)

 

[Zapasman]

FWIW. Avel from France bought LCA and Tarrago (manufacturer).

Présent dans une cinquantaine de pays à travers un réseau d'agents commerciaux, Avel est implantée en Espagne avec sa filiale, Hispania, basée à Barcelone. Celle-ci distribue les produits de la société de Magnac-Lavalette (Charente) dans la péninsule Ibérique. Avel vient de renforcer sa présence espagnole avec le rachat de Tarrago, leader dans son pays des produits d'entretien pour la chaussure. « Cette reprise va nous permettre d'harmoniser des gammes complémentaires. Mais aussi d'être présents, grâce à Tarrago, sur le moyen de gamme, marché que nous touchons encore très peu », souligne Marc Moura.


I always understood that LCA was a company rebranding diferebt products for shoes from third parties. So I thought that their waxes were made by Avel too. In any case, LCA belongs today to Avel.

 

[rbhan12]

All this M&A in the polish world! Apologies for speaking incorrectly on the manufacturer of Justin's polishes. Nonetheless, it's abundantly clear that his products are nothing short of fantastic.

 

[The Shoe Snob]



FWIW. Avel from France bought LCA and Tarrago (manufacturer). Présent dans une cinquantaine de pays à travers un réseau d'agents commerciaux, Avel est implantée en Espagne avec sa filiale, Hispania, basée à Barcelone. Celle-ci distribue les produits de la société de Magnac-Lavalette (Charente) dans la péninsule Ibérique. Avel vient de renforcer sa présence espagnole avec le rachat de Tarrago, leader dans son pays des produits d'entretien pour la chaussure. « Cette reprise va nous permettre d'harmoniser des gammes complémentaires. Mais aussi d'être présents, grâce à Tarrago, sur le moyen de gamme, marché que nous touchons encore très peu », souligne Marc Moura. I always understood that LCA was a company rebranding diferebt products for shoes from third parties. So I thought that their waxes were made by Avel too. In any case, LCA belongs today to Avel.

Sorry i dont speak French so am curious as to where you found this info as the letter that our suppliers sent us, "the customers," said otherwise i.e. that Tarrago bought everyone and when I met the new owner of 'everything' he was Spanish, not French, and came from Tarrago. From what I believe the new owners left AVEL as the main brand now controlling all as they had the stongest brand recognition. LCA is mainly known to trades people and Tarrago is/was never famous for high quality products. Hence it would appear that Avel is in charge, yet were actually acquired

 

[rbhan12]

Sorry i dont speak French so am curious as to where you found this info as the letter that our suppliers sent us, "the customers," said otherwise i.e. that Tarrago bought everyone and when I met the new owner of 'everything' he was Spanish, not French, and came from Tarrago. From what I believe the new owners left AVEL as the main brand now controlling all as they had the stongest brand recognition. LCA is mainly known to trades people and Tarrago is/was never famous for high quality products. Hence it would appear that Avel is in charge, yet were actually acquired

Could've been an acquisition and making Avel the face of the new company, since it's associated with higher quality. Might make sense from a business standpoint in a market where quality can be objectively defined (shoe polishes). I think it makes more sense to have a high end brand as the face with subsequent lower tiers than a mid-low brand as the face with a higher tier "subsidiary".

 

[Zapasman]

Sorry i dont speak French so am curious as to where you found this info as the letter that our suppliers sent us, "the customers," said otherwise i.e. that Tarrago bought everyone and when I met the new owner of 'everything' he was Spanish, not French, and came from Tarrago. From what I believe the new owners left AVEL as the main brand now controlling all as they had the stongest brand recognition. LCA is mainly known to trades people and Tarrago is/was never famous for high quality products. Hence it would appear that Avel is in charge, yet were actually acquired

Sure, here you are:

http://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/tpe-pme/218738/avel-fait-briller-son-nom.html

Basically says that Avel bought Tarrago to reinforce its present in Spain and to add a mid range product portfolio.

http://www.avel.com/la-coordonnerie-anglaise-paris.html

I do not know if things might have changed now.

Cheers

Cheers.

 

[The Shoe Snob]



Could've been an acquisition and making Avel the face of the new company, since it's associated with higher quality. Might make sense from a business standpoint in a market where quality can be objectively defined (shoe polishes). I think it makes more sense to have a high end brand as the face with subsequent lower tiers than a mid-low brand as the face with a higher tier "subsidiary". 

Yes precisely. To me, this makes the most sense.

 

[Zapasman]

http://www.avel.com/presentation-du-groupe.html

FWIW, It is a french group called ALMA FRC. They own Avel SAS, Perfecta SAS (LCA) Tarrago Brand Int and Dunkelman & Son (Dasco). Moura is one of the owners and the total turnover is 30 million € with 150 employees.

 

[The Shoe Snob]



http://www.avel.com/presentation-du-groupe.html

FWIW,  It is a french group called ALMA FRC.  They own Avel SAS, Perfecta SAS (LCA) Tarrago Brand Int and Dunkelman & Son (Dasco). Moura is one of the owners and the total  turnover is 30 million €  with 150 employees.

okay that makes sense now. But it was not avel essentially buying out everything, it was a parent company who now owns everyone.

thanks for the info

 

[rbhan12]

Just because I love these boots, and this photo.

 

[clee1982]



Button Shoe Preorder: The Aurora

— Price £350 at full retail — PRE-ORDER PRICE: 10% discount coming to £315 (ex VAT is £262.50). This price includes a button hook. (Great value for money huh?!)
— Two colorways: Black Calf/Black Suede/Black buttons & Navy Museum Calf/Navy Suede/Blue Buttons (blue version shown below is a photoshop picture, not entirely accurate)
— Sizes from UK5 to UK13 with half sizes between
— Arrival time to be early October
— LPB Last (soft chisel)
— Functional buttons
— Pre-sale ends Sunday the 14th at 11:59pm, Pacific Standard Time

http://www.jfitzpatrickfootwear.com/collections/button-shoes

For you guys with button shoes in general, do you guys always need a hook to button?

 

[The Shoe Snob]



For you guys with button shoes in general, do you guys always need a hook to button?

you wouldn't need one wth this per se, but it helps to ease the process, especially fi you are in a hurry....but you never use the button hook to take them off, just to do them up

 

[The Shoe Snob]

The Rainier Specator

http://blog.jfitzpatrickfootwear.com/2016/05/the-rainier-spectator/

http://www.jfitzpatrickfootwear.com/collections/oxford

 

[The Shoe Snob]

the button shoe pre-sale will end on Sunday 11;59pm PST so if you happened to be interested in this model these are last days to receive it at a 10% discount. Come monday they will no longer be available for purchase until arriving in stock and will be at £350/pair.

http://www.jfitzpatrickfootwear.com/collections/button-shoes