Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Farago.
Paul, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have been in the shoe business all of my life. My parents have been manufacturing and distributing shoes, mostly children’s, since I was very young. For a long time their company, Kinderland, Inc. (also based in Doral), was the exclusive North American distributor for luxury brands including Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, & Roberto Cavalli as well as their own brand, Venettini, which initially was made in Italy. As a result, growing up I spent most of my summers in Italian shoe factories, at tradeshows, and shipping shoes in the warehouse.
After graduating from the University of Miami, I started working at Kinderland. In about 2012, I was flying back from a tradeshow in Dallas and looked at the scratched up shoes on my feet that I had paid close to $300 for. They were a major brand name, made in Asia, and the scratched black leather was turning green. It was the 3rd pair of the same style that I had purchased in less than a year. I knew that at that price point, I could probably sell handcrafted Italian shoes by using a direct to consumer business model. So, I started working on it.
I spent a few years doing research & development and forming the foundation that would become Ace Marks. Our first luxury Italian men’s dress shoe collection launched on Kickstarter in 2016, and quickly became the most funded footwear project in crowdfunding history, raising $574K. In 2017, we launched our second collection on Kickstarter and surpassed our own record, raising $1.26 Million. Our third collection, which now includes handcrafted Italian luxury sneakers, raised over $817K in March 2018.
We are now very much focused on our fast growing website, www.acemarks.com, from where we are already shipping to over 80 countries.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
People have been trained to believe that you get what you pay for. Our biggest challenge is getting potential customers to understand that sometimes you get more than what you pay for. Today’s technology allows for more efficient business models and the efficiencies can be passed down to the consumer at a reduced price point without reducing the quality. More and more consumers are catching on to this, but we still have to continue educating our audience.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about AceMarks.com – what should we know?
We are best known for very high quality & bold, handcrafted luxury Italian men’s shoes with hand painted patinas and finishes.
There are three principals that guide Ace Marks and they are what we are passionate about:
1) Access to real luxury quality – We make real luxury shoes of the same or better quality as the major luxury brands that sell for $600 or even $1,000, some of which are made by our Italian artisans. Giving more people access to high quality luxury shoes & accessories is what motivates us.
2) Building relationships with our customers – We ship to thousands of customers in over 80 countries. Still, we know many of them by name and when they communicate with us, we let them know that we remember them from a previous transaction or a comment that they may have left on our website or Kickstarter campaign. Our customers also know that when they send us a suggestion for a new style, color or even a new product the suggestion doesn’t go into a black-hole, we review it and then quickly implement it if it’s possible. Many of our products were born as customer suggestions, including belts & briefcases. We sell online and worldwide, but we want to make every interaction with our brand feel as human and local as possible. Each interaction is an opportunity to create a brand enthusiast.
3) Giving back to the community – From the beginning, we wanted giving back to be fundamental to Ace Marks. So, we implemented our Leave Your Marks Program. If our customer decides at some point that one of our shoes is just sitting in their closet or they have used it enough and want to change it for a new one, we will buy it back for a $50 credit towards a new pair of dress shoes on our website. The shoe that is sent back to us is then donated to Career Gear or Dress for Success (local), two great organizations that help men dress for job interviews so that they can get back on their feet and provide for their families and communities. We just formed a partnership with TwoTen Footwear Foundation to implement a similar program with our sneakers.
We have been bootstrapping Ace Marks for about two years now with the goal of proving the concept while building a customer base and brand recognition. We have successfully done that on an international level, exceeding even our own expectations. We’re also very proud of the fact that we have shipped thousands of pairs of shoes and have maintained a 96% 5-Star review rating. Next, we will begin seeking our first round of funding to help us capitalize on our traction and accelerate our growth.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Our early customers are our biggest cheerleaders. We often see them online telling others about our quality and unique styles and colors.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.acemarks.com
- Phone: (786) 518-2042
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acemarksshoes/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acemarksshoes/
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