Profession Bottier: a luxurious story

From the most classic to the trendiest models, the luxurious male shoes produced by PROFESSION BOTTIER have already conquered 22 world markets. The United Arab Emirates and the USA are in the pipeline of this brand from Santa Maria da Feira. 

The quality of the raw materials and the attention to details are recognisable and it is not even necessary to look into detail. Profession Bottier is betting in the semi-artisanal production, with special attention in the finishing, which gives each pair of shoes leaving the factory its own personality and this semi-artisanal production is reflected in the international conquest which has been gradually done. 

France, the first country of entry for Profession Bottier, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Japan and Switzerland are today the main destinations for the luxurious shoes brand, which has appeared in 1994 from the second generation of the Avelar & Irmão family, with almost 68 years of know-how in this industry. 

The access into new markets has been sustained with a slow expansion strategy, in which the company only goes for an approach after a visit and after watching on site if Profession Bottier has products and image to sell there, describes Rúben Avelar, commercial manager of the brand and one of the successors of Ferreira Avelar & Irmão family. 

For this reason, they are now preparing to conquer more markets in the United Arab Emirates and in the USA. These are "stable and medium-long term trustworthy countries, something that the European markets cannot currently offer”, mentioned Rúben Avelar. However, "it is important that our main strategy reinforces the bet in the market that, for us, is considered the internal market of Profession Bottier: Europe. We think that if we give up on Europe, we will open even more the economic and social gap, already existing for the emerging countries” said Rúben.

The strategy that Profession Bottier has been consolidating, allowed them to reach a business volume of one million euros last year, which they expect to keep this year. Currently it represents 20% of the Ferreira Avelar & Irmão business volume, but the goal is to achieve 35% before 2020. 

Profession Bottier collections have been comprehensively developed for the medium-tall male segment, "in order to reach each one of the markets” where the brand is sold, describes the commercial manager, adding that "each one has its own particularities, as well as each nation has its own physiognomy”. 

For the collections to reach the market, 30 thousand euros are yearly invested in Research and Development, being impossible to particularize what is R&D” within the sector, once "a specific model can have various technical and innovative points, which don’t need a monetary investment, but they take many hours of study so that, even being so technical, they look like regular shoes”, affirms Rúben. 

The 112 employees of Ferreira Avelar & Irmão distributed through three pavilions inside the same industrial polo, work on every project developed by the company, Profession Bottier included, said the commercial manager. With prices between 150 and 500 euros per pair, in the end, the objective is always the same: "To produce a high quality product in order to offer our customer a pair of luxurious shoes at a price more adequate to the economic and social reality that we live”.

But none of this would be possible if the two brothers, Manuel and António Ferreira Avelar, did not join together in the late 40s with the aim of opening a small company of comfortable shoes. The turning point in the history of the company happened in 1987, with the second generation of the family, after the fashion designer, Jacques Mirault, having recognised the quality and excellence of the production method.  

This was the gateway to the French market and the beginning of exports by the company from Santa Maria da Feira. According to Rúben Avelar, "Profession Bottier was created in 1974 under the name Ferre – Calçado de Luxo, but its Community register under the current designation happened in 1994”, to conquer new markets and to deal with the domestic slowdown. Curiously, and despite France had been the first market to Profession Bottier, the company had already been exporting to Russia and Cuba since the 80s, but as Ferre. Today, and despite the daily challenges under new formats, the main adversary that Profession Bottier has to face is the uncertainty of the markets, concerning the consumer power.  "At the moment we see that whether it is a retailer, a supplier or even a consumer, they can’t invest in medium-term, which gives us less time of response for each challenge proposed by the customer” affirms Rúben Avelar. That can "threaten the quality of the final product, because if we associate this to the exacerbated control of the retail price, we can have here a breaking point which will be difficult to manage if there is no resistance and common sense from the worldwide footwear manufacturers”, concludes. 

France, the first country of entry for Profession Bottier, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Japan and Switzerland are the main destinations for the luxurious shoes from the brand that appeared in 1994 by the hands of the second generation from the family business Ferreira Avelar & Irmão.