GREAT BRAK RIVER NEWS - On 7 November Bolton Footwear commemorated the centenary of the laying of the cornerstone of their Great Brak River factory in 1917 by Senator Charles Searle, the first chairman of the Board of Directors of C. Searle & Co. Ltd.
Senator Searle was one of the founders of the original factory on the exact same spot in 1886. The factory was known as the "Good Hope Boot and Shoe Manufactory". Even back then, their logo stated what would become their lasting motto: "The House for the Best Value".
The factory, a division of Bolton Footwear, is well known for producing the Grasshoppers brand.
Apart from Grasshoppers, Bolton Footwear brands include Anton Fabi, Jordan, Bronx (men's and ladies'), Paolo Falcone, Crockett & Jones, Renegade, Dr Hart, Step-on-Air (men's and ladies'), Franco Gemelli, Watson Shoes and YoungKlinik.
Bolton Footwear also has manufacturing plants in Oudtshoorn and in Elsies River near Cape Town. The Elsies River manufacturing plant was previously known as Jordan & Co.
The current management team of Bolton Footwear Great Brak River Manufacturing plant (previously Watson Shoes) are, from left: A Janse van Rensburg, R Engelbrecht (shop steward), W Wilson, W Lewis, H Hendriks (shop steward), F Strydom (chief operating officer and Bolton Footwear executive committee member), A Coetzer, D Visagie, S Maharaj, R Oosthuizen and B Dumas.
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