I was co-owner of the Swallow’s Nest in Seattle in the 70’s. We were the first to import EB’s to the US. We would require customers pre-pay for a pair and sign up on a list first come-first served(I think we retailed them for about $45). We would get 50 or so folks to sign up, then we would get on the phone with EB himself in France and thru our French speaking book-keeper, Agnes, transmit our order( which we plussed up to about 70-80 pairs so we had some inventory). Mr EB was blown away by the size of our orders and it would take about 3 months for us to get the shoes. Then the call went out to our customers and for about a week our store was jammed with people picking up their EB’s(and if they weren’t the right size we had the extra inventory for them to swap with). We placed at least one order per year with EB from 1973-78 when I sold my share of the store. I still have my old thoroughly worn out pair and a brand new pair which have never touched rock. They were game changers.
I was co-owner of the Swallow’s Nest in Seattle in the 70’s. We were the first to import EB’s to the US. We would require customers pre-pay for a pair and sign up on a list first come-first served(I think we retailed them for about $45). We would get 50 or so folks to sign up, then we would get on the phone with EB himself in France and thru our French speaking book-keeper, Agnes, transmit our order( which we plussed up to about 70-80 pairs so we had some inventory). Mr EB was blown away by the size of our orders and it would take about 3 months for us to get the shoes. Then the call went out to our customers and for about a week our store was jammed with people picking up their EB’s(and if they weren’t the right size we had the extra inventory for them to swap with). We placed at least one order per year with EB from 1973-78 when I sold my share of the store. I still have my old thoroughly worn out pair and a brand new pair which have never touched rock. They were game changers.