Church’s English Shoes, the Downfall, der Untergang
Church’s is not the first great traditional brand to fall victim to takeovers, modern fashion, and marketers cannibalizing old names to produce ever diminishing quality. The saddest example that comes to mind, though not a shoe maker, is Abercrombie & Fitch, from the 19th century onward, a purveyor of non plus ultra outdoors wear and militaria that has managed to devolve into a jeans and t-shirt chain. Teddy Roosevelt, perhaps their most famous client, who outfitted his Rough Riders for war from Abercrombie, is doing somersaults in his grave.
Church’s, a family business, was taken over by Prada 1999. the first signal that tradition had succumbed to fashion. The decline from that moment was gradual, perceptible but not precipitous. With the advent of the unfortunate, off-shore made “Prima Class” line that seeks to profit with but only succeeds in mocking a name that echoes the finely English made “Custom Grade” line, the intent and integrity, such as it is, of the new owners was made perfectly clear. With the addition of many less well made, oddly disproportionately shaped, clearly “fashion forward” models, some in glossy, treated leathers that soon disintegrate, the new positioning of the company and its seeking to attract another, new and clearly inexperienced clientele became even more obvious. Fortunately, the old English works continued to produce much of the old line. But the biggest surprise was yet to come.
More recently, Church’s announced a price hike, across the entire line, of 40%. This is not a typographical error; yes, 40%.! This does not represent an adjustment for inflation. This is a complete repositioning of the brand in another price bracket, into the bracket at which Prada is most at home, the over-priced, badly made, luxury arena, where people buy labels and disregard quality. Witness in operation the old adage, “The bigger the sign, the bigger the crook.”
In an example of the price increase, a standard oxford that once cost £495, now costs £720….and you had best be careful you are buying an English-made, Custom Grade model! One must navigate around the many very odd new styles that are an embarrassment to any experienced gentleman. The question remains whether Prada’s market analyst’s financial projections will bear fruit, whether aligning their global marketing with their Asian locations will gain more in their increased margins than lose with the flight of their old, more price-sensitive clientele.
Visitors to my website have long known of my affection for the Church’s brand. Their suede shoes, their Cape Buck suedes, for instance, are peerless. I still have a pair from my college days, my first really good pair of shoes, still good, still wearable.
Church’s exotic leather shoes, specially their sealskin shoes, have not made an appearance for almost three decades but, in their day, they were without equal in elegance, luxury and, yes, quality.
Soon this quality, this durability, this beauty, will be a thing of the past. For us, the old guard, the brand is relegated to history. Nevertheless, there may still be time for the careful shopper to find something of Church’s old flagship, Custom Grade shoes at the old prices, perhaps from dealers who are abandoning the brand. Likewise, a good used pair bought on-line or from my website or others’, would certainly be a timely investment, before the stock dwindles to nothing.