Unique profession attracting customers in Hoi An: Shoe making is "hot"

Hot shoe service

Hoi An ancient town not only attracts tourists by its beautiful landscape, cuisine, and rich cultural history, but also by preserving one of the long-standing occupations of Hoi An residents - handmade shoemaking.

Handmade shoemaking, serving tourists in Hoi An (Photo: Ngo Linh).

Having run a shoe store for more than 20 years on Nguyen Duy Hieu Street, Hoi An City, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien (44 years old) said that shoe stores have become more bustling since the "hot" shoemaking service (instant shoemaking) was born.

Depending on the sophistication, material and design, the production time can be from 1-2 hours for sandals or slippers or 6-7 hours for boots and shoes.

When needing "hot" shoes, visitors can request materials, colors, add details to their liking, then measure their feet and schedule a time to pick up the shoes.

Unlike many other places, in Hoi An, the shoes ordered by tourists are all made entirely by hand, including the foot measurement. The shoes are therefore both accurate in size and unique, ensuring the "one-of-a-kind" factor.

The design, size, material, color and other requirements of the customer are transferred to the shoe factory and executed according to the contract time.

Hard plastic shoe mold (Photo: Ngo Linh).

To survive and retain customers, shoe stores always seek out new, popular designs and promptly update to diversify their products.

"By creating by ourselves, researching on the internet, or sometimes from customers' requests, the store creates a new model, so the store space is mainly for display products," Ms. Lien shared.

Each workshop has its own secret

Cam Nam Ward (Hoi An City) is home to many handmade shoe factories, which can produce many types of shoes according to customers' requests at shops in the old town.

At the factory, footwear is divided into 5 types: sandals, clogs, shoes, slippers and boots. There are factories that only process one of the above 5 types, but there are also factories that process all 5 types.

According to Mr. Huynh Viet Anh, handmade shoes in Hoi An are very popular with tourists (Photo: Ngo Linh).

Crafting a pair of handmade shoes also goes through many stages, from measuring the shoe sole, choosing the material, color and then cutting according to the design. Then comes the stage of stamping and pressing the pattern onto the sole, gluing the sole, cleaning and polishing. Because it is handmade, the craftsman must be meticulous and careful in every step, ensuring customer satisfaction.

Each factory has its own secret, so sometimes from a common model, many factories add details and accessories to create a new product.

In his shoe factory in Cam Nam ward, Mr. Huynh Viet Anh (also known as Thanh, 37 years old) and his 4 workers are diligently making shoes to deliver to customers on time. These workers are very passionate about their profession, they have been with this factory for a long time.

On average, each pair of shoes costs 300,000-500,000 VND. Each worker's income is about 6-7 million VND/month (Photo: Ngo Linh).

Mr. Huynh Viet Anh said that his establishment has been open for more than 15 years, mainly making boots, creating a solid reputation in the handmade shoemaking profession in Hoi An.

"Because they are handmade, the sophistication and precision are always higher than available shoes. In addition, the designs here are much more diverse than other places, so shoes in Hoi An gradually become a "brand", favored by many domestic and foreign tourists," Mr. Anh added.

After decades of being established and serving customers, many handmade shoe products in Hoi An have followed tourists on their journeys around the world. There are tourists who return here with the shoe store's advertising business card, following the recommendation of friends and relatives, to order a pair of shoes or sandals to "verify" the compliments.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/nghe-doc-hut-khach-o-hoi-an-dong-giay-nong-20240107080333166.htm