The Duradero Story

Duradero may have launched in 2021 but it was 45 years in the making, devoting our careers to producing, selling, and repairing quality work boots for multinational brands.  Call us old fashioned but we frown on robotic responses, upselling gimmicks, and over-hyped products. Duradero is our direct-to-consumer brand and we stripped away the bureaucratic decision making by reaching into our collective body of knowledge to bring our tool-belt wearing customer a better work boot. We built Duradero boots knowing that each pair is an investment in the hard work that needs to be done, and to that end we double the value of that investment by offering a free resoling with every purchase. “Twice the Life”

A manufacturing guy and the sales guy are sitting in a bar…Ok it’s not quite that simple. Duradero, founded in 2020, (you start a company during a pandemic you’re just built different) came into being over a 5-year period backed by over 50 years of experience. Jim Musial (Yes, he’s related) has been involved in the manufacturing world for over 40 years. Jim is immersed in manufacturing and if his name is on it. His expertise lies in the details. 360-degree Goodyear Welted construction, highest quality leathers, triple stitch stress points, unparalleled durability, design, and fit. Buy better, wear longer, give back! These are simple beliefs and after 40 years of “working for the man” Jim wanted to build the best and that’s what Duradero is.

Todd Stewardson is a sales and business development executive and while working with the largest shoe repair manufacturer in the world discovered that a significant percentage of “real work boot guys” (nothing wrong with skinny jean work boot guys) spent the time and money to get their boots resoled. Todd went to all the existing work boot companies with the idea of selling a resole with a purchase or making it available to their consumers. While he had a great power point presentation and got lots of meetings with senior executives and marketing teams the sales arm of the company would always ask “You mean the consumer is going to repair instead of buy a new pair? You’re excused Todd!” These companies all knew the value proposition was unparalleled. Their legacy distribution models just didn’t allow for that type of disruption.

However, Jim and Todd knew if they could offer the combination of a product and a service. something NEVER before available to the work boot customer. Starting from the ground up a new company that sells direct to the consumer, offers incredible service and convenience, and the best product for the price can be done and Duradero is just the beginning.

When you work for a big company they are looking for ways to cut costs and innovation is usually just a word that corporations use when what they really mean is “we’re thinking about it.” Jim wanted to design a product from the ground up and incorporate modern convenience and old-world craftsmanship.