After one-and-a-half centuries of soothing soles, this German company is ready to step into Bradford.
Members of council, the Bradford Board of Trade and others joined Rieker Shoe Canada’s president Arlene Kooring-Murray and Brad Kooring, vice-president and sales manager, for the grand opening of the company’s new national headquarters, plus warehouse and retail outlet store featuring a variety of footwear for both men and women at 202 Stirling Cres. on Nov. 21.
“Today marks a new chapter for Rieker Shoe Canada as we officially open the doors to our new facility, that reflects our commitment to growth innovation and investment in Bradford and South Simcoe,” Kooring-Murray said.
Board of trade director Marcello Nicolo said he has been driving by every day and couldn’t wait to step inside, while Mayor James Leduc called the opening “a significant milestone” for both the company and the town.
“We welcome you wholeheartedly to Bradford West Gwillimbury and wish you every success in your new endeavours,” the mayor said.
From the new location, Rieker operates almost every aspect of the business across the country including wholesales, distribution, invoicing and warehousing.
About the only thing they don’t do here in Bradford is make the shoes, but Kooring-Murray explained Rieker does manufacturers about 95 per cent of the shoes they sell, with factories in eastern Europe, northern Africa and more recently Vietnam.
While staff started moving into the warehouse as early as March, the company opened the retail outlet to the public about two weeks ago, and since then they’ve seen plenty of new and returning customers alike coming from as far away as Vaughan, according to the company president.
“We’re very pleased that they’re supporting us even though we’ve moved half an hour away,” she said.
As a resident of the Holland Marsh, Kooring-Murray is no stranger to Bradford, and said that so far things are going “very good” in the new location.
“We know that Bradford is poised to grow, so we thought this would be a great opportunity to get in before everybody knows about it,” she said.
That followed about 10 years of looking for an existing building to handle the company’s growth, but as they couldn’t find anything suitable, they started planning around 2020 for an all-new facility.
“This opportunity came up with a wonderful location next to the highway and a lot of exposure for the brand, so we decided to make the investment here,” Kooring-Murray said.
That resulted in a roughly 9,290-square-metre (100,000-square-foot) facility, about half of which is dedicated to the warehouse, offices and retail outlet. The rest is being rented out, but ready for the company’s future expansion as Kooring-Murray explained they’ve had “great growth” over the 30 years Rieker has been in Canada, largely thanks to independent retailers.
“If you see our brand, you’re probably supporting your local shoe retailer in small towns across Canada,” she said.
Rieker’s history in Canada has humble beginnings in a “very small” facility in Brampton.
“We started in a basement as a sales agent,” Kooring-Murray recalled.
From there they expanded incrementally to sites in Vaughan, and now the new facility in Bradford, which is expected to directly employ about 30 people, and while some transitioned from Vaughan, Kooring-Murray said “quite a few” jobs went to local employees.
In addition to the grand opening and 30th anniversary in Canada, this year also marked Rieker’s 150th anniversary after beginning in Germany 1874.
“What makes it even more special is it’s been in the Rieker family for five generations, so it’s still family owned,” Kooring-Murray said.
The retail outlet is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
For more information, call 1-888-222-5730 or visit rieker.ca.
