Product Origins
Made in New Zealand.
About Bobux
Bobux
International Ltd was formed in January 1991 when New Zealand designers
Chris and Colleen Bennett launched a unique, innovative and new
category of soft soled leather shoes for children under their brand,
Bobux.
Chris
invented the original and distinctive styling of the original Bobux
shoes for his oldest daughter Chloe when she was 9 months old.
Says
Chris an Architect ”my daughter’s shoes had laces that kept on coming
undone and falling off her feet. This was a source of constant
frustration for my wife and I and knew there had to be a better way.”
“I
took some of her shoes, replaced the laces with elastic and at the same
time observed she loved wearing her cotton pre walkers with the soft
fabric soles.”
“Not
very durable outside but by replacing the cotton uppers and soles with
leather and suede and some clever design changes such as adding the
original Bobux elastic ankle device, a new shoe category was born.
Other
mothers were so attracted to the cool funky shoes that they were soon
asking how to buy them for their own children. The response was
phenomenal.
One
weekend Chris and Colleen set up a stall at the Victoria Park craft
market in Auckland and within 2 hours had sold out their entire stock of
60 pairs.
The
public response was overwhelming and within 6 months the little soft
leather shoes that stayed on were in full production and had taken over
the basement garage of the family’s home in Auckland.
The
company employed two sales representatives and in the first year over
8000 pairs were sold in children’s and footwear stores throughout New
Zealand.
At
the end of the first year the Company appointed a distributor in
Australia with such success that in 1992 Chris joined a New Zealand
business group to Canada and appointed a Canadian agent based in
Vancouver.
Word soon began to spread and enquiries started flooding in from countries around the World.
Since
Bobux first introduced the world to its ‘soft soled leather shoes that
stay on’, many imitators have copied the original Bobux elastic ankle
design concept.
However says Chris "imitation is the ultimate form of flattery.”
“The
companies that have copied us in the past haven’t developed the same
design and innovation culture that we had from day one and the new
products the company plans to release from 2007 onwards will be more
difficult to copy so blatantly.”
Currently,
Bobux products are sold in over 18 countries world-wide including most
countries in Europe, as well as USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New
Zealand.
Over
1.5 million shoes are sold each year with sales projected to increase
dramatically with the number of new products planned for release from
2007 onwards.
Bobux
International Ltd head offices are located in Auckland New Zealand, the
mystical land of the Long White Cloud and the home of Pukanini bears.
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