Heart and sole

Machinists Kylie Bottle (left) and Judy Buchanan in the McKinlays factory. Photos: Christine O...
Machinists Kylie Bottle (left) and Judy Buchanan in the McKinlays factory. Photos: Christine O'Connor
Clicking knives for cutting leather.
Clicking knives for cutting leather.
Custom footwear maker Noel Buchan.
Custom footwear maker Noel Buchan.
A sole press attaches the sole to the shoe.
A sole press attaches the sole to the shoe.
In the storeroom.
In the storeroom.
The finished product.
The finished product.
McKinlays co-owner Graeme McKinlay looks towards the workplace floor.
McKinlays co-owner Graeme McKinlay looks towards the workplace floor.
David McFarlane stitches the out-soles.
David McFarlane stitches the out-soles.

McKinlays in South Dunedin is New Zealand's last general footwear factory. Eileen Goodwin gets a close-up view of a family business that spans five generations.

There is a cottage industry feel to the factory floor of family footwear company McKinlays.

Co-owner Graeme McKinlay is showing the Otago Daily Times around the heart of his business in South Dunedin; some of the equipment looks a little quaint (although Mr McKinlay explains newer machinery mightn't necessarily look too much different); some of the machines are quite noisy.

That's not a bad thing. Such volume means productivity. It means jobs.

Once the lifeblood of South Dunedin, manufacturing has been hit hard by globalisation, and the jobs that remain provide an increasingly rare commodity for workers - stable hours, Mr McKinlay says.

The factory has about 18 staff, the longest serving of whom has been with McKinlays for more than 40 years, while ‘‘two or three'' have worked more than 30 years, explains Mr McKinlay, who feels an obligation to staff, who start on minimum wage but can be ‘‘quite well paid'' after a few years.

The job was not for everyone, but ‘‘if we keep them for one year we keep them quite a long time''.

Mr McKinlay says it is gratifying to think some types of manufacturing will ‘‘stay around for a while yet'', and he believes this is valued by customers.

‘‘People are conscious they need to support New Zealand where they can, because we do have so little industry left.''

From 2016, the final tariffs will be removed from Chinese footwear imported to New Zealand. The 10% tariff has been lifted incrementally since the New Zealand China Free Trade Agreement was signed.

Mr McKinlay doubts this will make a difference to his business, which comprises 80% school footwear.

‘‘We've known it's coming for a long time.''

Free trade works both ways, and it is possible the much-maligned Trans Pacific Partnership could provide a small fillip for the tiny exporter.

McKinlays exports about 300 pairs of shoes per year to Japan and the United States, which have expensive trade barriers, and about 200 per year to Australia.

‘‘In theory'' the TPP might open up the US and Japanese markets, but its details remain obscure.

‘‘I'm not holding my breath though.''In past years, the business has bought equipment from defunct New Zealand shoe factories, but as they have gone by the wayside, the business looks to Europe for that purpose.

It is not overly expensive - the dearest purchase in recent years is a $30,000 sole trimming machine.

Equipment dictates method and style. At present, the factory makes 25 different styles, in about eight colours, in sizes ranging from infant to men's size 15.

Some styles last a long time, their popularity waxing and waning. An example is the Desert Boot, which the factory has made a variation of since the 1960s. Its sole is crepe rubber, which went out of fashion, but then came back in, and ‘‘away we go again''.

‘‘We had stopped making it [with crepe]. Crepe rubber became hard to get.''

Crepe rubber was a natural substance, and was not stable. That meant for some types of industrial work shoes needed to be soled with synthetic rubber, for resistance to oil. The factory was able to be flexible to suit customers.

‘‘We do a lot of small runs. A shop can ask for 10 pairs or whatever. Which you can't do if you're importing.''

Sewing leather is a skilled job, and unlike clothing, once the needle is in the material ‘‘you only get one go'' at stitching it. McKinlays tailor-make shoes for up to 10 people per week.

This includes those with special health needs, such as club feet, spina bifida, diabetics with circulation problems.

Some of the shoes are ordered by district health boards. Mr McKinlay explains the distinctive McKinlay exterior sewing of the leather is different from about 80% of the world's shoes, which are ‘‘cement lasted'', meaning the leather is wrapped underneath.

It makes the shoes stand out, and the business would need to overhaul its equipment if it did want to conform to the prevailing method. Mr McKinlay and his brother, David, took over the factory from their father Bill (who is 80 and still lives in Dunedin) and uncle, Nigel (who has shifted to Central Otago).

The brothers jointly run the factory and the entire operation, but Graeme is more focused on the factory floor, and David on the imported shoes.

The family business is 136 years and five generations old, and the factory has been in Glasgow St since 1990. Parts of the factory were flooded in June, but damage was limited.

The repairs incorporated long-planned changes to the factory shop and now, for the first time, customers can view the factory floor when visiting .

Having grown up on the factory floor, Mr McKinlay still enjoys seeing the product come together.

‘‘It's quite enjoyable - the other side of it is, I can't think what else I could do.‘‘I'm sure I'd find something if I had to, but I'd rather not have to.''


A shoe-in

Only a fraction of the 20 million pairs of footwear sold in New Zealand each year are made in in this country.

Producing about 600 pairs a week, McKinlays, in South Dunedin, is the country's last general footwear factory, and makes the bulk of New Zealand-made footwear.

‘‘It's not easy - that's witnessed by the fact that there's virtually no-one left, apart from us,'' co-owner Graeme McKinlay says.

Being on its own poses logistical difficulties, not the least of which is ordering supplies from Europe up to 10 months in advance.

‘‘It's sourcing the materials to make the shoes [that's hard]. The components. That's what's become harder and harder.

‘‘It's not an option to suddenly decide we want green eyelets, and we want them next month.''

The last order was lodged in November to arrive in February, and has to last until September 2016.

Mr McKinlay and co-owner, his brother David, also import European shoes, and that helps make it viable to import raw materials and machinery from Europe.

‘‘It justifies us buying materials, as we link them together when we freight them.''


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