Footwear startup Mise took home the top votes in the first Portland Inno Madness competition, a bright spot in what has been a challenging few weeks for the company.
Mise makes shoes specifically designed for the restaurant, bar, café and hospitality industry. It's been successful in generating buzz and getting products into the hands of more than 100 early adopters for testing.
However, the continued pandemic impact has hampered that momentum. While restrictions ease in the U.S., in China, a huge center of gravity for footwear manufacturing, factories are shut down and production has been halted for weeks. And, there is no official indication when the country’s Covid lockdown might be lifted.
“We have everything as dialed as possible with the product. Now, we have to wait for production and shipping,” said Mise founder and CEO Erik Hernandez.
He noted his factory partner, with whom he's in contact every other day, has been shut down for three weeks. Rumor has it, he said, it might not be open for another 10 days.
Mise opened its preorders in mid-December and is still trying to hit its goal to ship this spring. The company plans to get preorders shipped by airfreight as soon as possible once production starts again. Any regular orders will use ocean shipping.
However, he noted that shipping that usually takes 30 days can now take45 to 70 days.
“Right now everything is on lockdown. Soon it will be a race to see who gets on boats and planes first,” he said, noting that big brands like Apple and Tesla are in the same position as Mise.
Hernandez hopes that, as a startup with smaller runs, the company can sneak onto loads with bigger customers.
As a result, the company isn’t pushing orders as part of its marketing. Instead, the company seeks to build its relationships within the food and beverage industry and support those businesses.
The company has collaborated with the Independent Restaurant Coalition to continue to keep these businesses in the public eye. On Wednesday the company held an Instagram Live event at Portland restaurant Han Oak to draw attention to the coalition’s effort to get another restaurant relief package from Congress.
Along with Han Oak chef Peter Cho, the event featured former Trail Blazer and now-winery owner Channing Frye, Deadstock Coffee owner Ian Williams and Frasca Hospitality’s Bobby Stuckey
“The big theme we are pushing now is being independent doesn’t mean you are alone,” Hernandez said.
Following wear testing with 170 customers last fall, the company has made adjustments and is now waiting on production. Hernandez noted they hope to bring production to the Americas, but as many materials are sourced from Asia, it might not solve the problem fully.
As Hernandez has tried to keep the brand relevant, he said the Inno competition was fun and he appreciated the friends, family and other supporters who voted. The tough part: The vote featured many friends and collaborators, including Deadstock and Freeland Spirits.
