Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 28

MYSTORE PROFILE

"Lots of our stores are at satellite locations
and we don't know exactly what they're doing every day down there," says Adrian. "It's
pretty much the manager's store down there.
They're running the ship, they're hiring their
own employees."
The customer cult

Eclectic options for eclectic tastes.
Employee engagement

Adrian says that Fluevog has a strange pattern of behaviour among its employees-the
employees join the company, and they tend
to stay. Why does Fluevog have a lower than
normal turnover rate for retail? "I don't know
why," Adrian says. "I guess we treat them well,
and they like the job and the company."
Andrew Neeb, Manager of the Distillery
location, is an experienced retailer who says
Fluevog Shoes is "by far the best company
I've ever worked for." He says the company
searches for the best shoe retailers they can
find, and with the mix of fashionable Fluevog
shoes, a sense of independence and a passion
for shoes, people stay happy. It also helps,
Neeb says, that the company doesn't treat retailing as a form of low-skill employment.
Adrian Fluevog credits much of the company's success with its employees to the store
managers. "It's about finding the right manager and training them properly to understand our needs. Once we have that, they go
ahead and hire their staff," he says. With the
distance between the head office in Vancouver, the store manager's industry knowledge
and motivation plays a pivotal role in keeping
the business afloat.

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When asked if Fluevog Shoes has a loyalty
program, Neeb shakes his head. "No, we don't
need a loyalty program," he says.
One of the peculiar things about Fluevog
Shoes is the cult that has grown up around the
brand. It's a self-generated, self-perpetuating
group of fans who seem to live for the newest
pair of Fluevogs. They call themselves Fluevoggers and they get involved in the life of
the store in ways that most retailers never see.
For an aspirational brand like Fluevog selling
tailored shoes costing hundreds of dollars, return customers are a significant contributor to
the bottom line.
On the Fluevog Facebook page, loyal Fluevoggers write about their favourite shoes
and fashionistas post pictures of themselves
in their Fluevogs.
Fluevog has created avenues for their fans to
get involved. Long before crowdsourcing entered the lexicon, Fluevog devised open-sourced
footwear. They asked customers to send in their
ideas for shoe designs. The company sorts
through the design submissions and chooses
one to become part of the new collection.
Fluevog also runs Fluevog Creative, an
open source concept that lets customers get
involved in the marketing of the shoes. And
the Fluevog Calendar gives customers who
own 30 or more pairs of Fluevogs a "shoe of
the day" to wear.
"With this interaction with us, they feel like
part of the Fluevog family and they kind of
take ownership. It's amazing to see. We love
to encourage it," says Adrian Fluevog.
For a company that doesn't have money for
mass media advertising, having die-hard customers who are willing to sell shoes by wordof-mouth has been a boon to the business.
Adrian says the love that Fluevog customers
show for the shoes is one of the main appeals
of working in the business.
"We want to give our customers the best
experience they can have, and we want them
coming out of our stores with huge smiles
on their faces and feeling proud to wear our
shoes. That's what we work toward."

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Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014

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