Rainbow Sandals
Rainbow Sandals Inc. was established in 1974 in Laguna Beach, California by Jay "Sparky" Longley and is currently based out of San Clemente, California. The company specializes in men's and women's leather, hemp, and rubber flip-flops. Not made in the USA.
When Longley first started making sandals, he was assembling 15 pairs per day out of leather and Malaysian rubber in the garage of his Laguna Beach home.[1] He relocated to San Clemente in 1975 and began manufacturing 1,200 pairs of sandals a day. Since 2002, Longley had to move 75% of production to China because of a solvent in the glue he makes. Longley had to install a catalytic oxidizer at his San Clemente factory that scrubs all the volatile organic compounds (VOC) out of the glue before it's emitted into the air. He is legally only allowed to make 1,000 pairs per day in San Clemente. In China, they use a VOC-Free glue. Longley cannot use the VOC-Free glue in California because it is too combustable under the Fire Code. In addition, Longley manufactures sandals in San Clemente, California and in China.[2]
References
- ^ "The Morning Read: He's caught up in sandal". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
- ^ http://patch.com/california/sanclemente/rainbows-owner-3-of-4-sandals-made-in-china-because-of-epa-regs
- Edelhauser, Kristin (July 26, 2007). "Staying One Step Ahead". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Bellantonio, Jennifer (December 31, 2007). "Rainbow Sandals Goes Upscale; $50M in Sales. APPAREL: Sandal maker counts 80 local workers; more stores due". San Diego Business Journal. Archived from the original on July 21, 2009. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - Nguyen, Hang (21 Apr 2006). "$7 billion sandal industry is in midst of one of its prime selling seasons". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
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