Pilgrimage to Fitchburg

[cjsmith]

My Hersey custom shoes arrived in California a few weeks ago, and today I brought them home! We drove out to Fitchburg, MA where they were made, and we met Steve, the guy who made them.

The shop is quite small, and there are casts, lasts, and shoe parts everywhere. I was impressed by some of the orders he was working on. I thought my feet were wide. (They are.) But some of THOSE feet...! I'm glad Hersey exists. Mass production may have improved the lives of many, but its prevalence is torture for a few.

Steve is going to make some minor tweaks and send the shoes off this evening; they'll arrive back in Natick tomorrow, and if they're fantabulous, I'll wear them home. Or else I'll ship 'em to Fitchburg for the next round of tweaks. In any case, it's all looking very hopeful.

Comments

[jupiter29.livejournal.com]

I keep reading this and thinking you have new shoes made of chocolate. I'm sure clicking the link would clear up that confusion, but I'm having too much fun with it. :)







Er, no, not in THAT way. No. To each their own, but... no. ;)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Not a shoe kind of guy, eh? ;-)

[jupiter29.livejournal.com]

Apparently not. Who knew? :)

[hnybny.livejournal.com]

Custom shoes, cool!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Way awesome. My feet could sure use 'em, so I hope we can get the soles shaped well enough that I can walk well in them.

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

Yay!

So? How do they fit? How do they feel???

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

They fit as if they were made for my feet! However, the modifications he made to support my weird gait aren't quite right. I'm glad he got a chance to see me. He suggested not only the tweak I had in mind but two more. This is going to be wonderful when it's improved.

[lkeele.livejournal.com]

And how long DID the wait actually end up being?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh, about as long as it woulda been. I think I didn't actually get squeezed into the schedule anywhere. But that's OK. One thing I learned is that just about everybody who goes to Hersey needs those shoes as much if not more than I do.

[platypus]

Ooh, I wish I could stop by for some tweaks :).

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't that be AWESOME? I'll post my pics of the place! It really did feel like a pilgrimage.