“Montegranaro Shoes" is the story of a journey that started in the '300 and never stopped; It is the story of a landmark district of Made in Italy in the world.

Whoever came in the Marche, also just by chance, he knows well that the combination "shoes -Montegranaro" is a close connection. It breathes in every family, in every factory, in every corner of the territory. It's a so intense love story that the craft shoes of shoe factories in the district of Fermo province, born in the workshops of the '300, arrived today in the shop windows around the world. The phenomenon of handmade shoes of this area has deep roots and dates back to the “self-company vocation" of the region. The Marche, in fact, are self-made: very poor after the war, they have given rise to an industry that was not there (or which had still a shopkeeper size), to a new way of producing, to create an infinity of brands famous everywhere.

The shoe making district of Montegranaro: from its origins to today

The production area of Fermo district today represents the largest concentration of craft shoes business in the Italian territory. The district origins can be traced to the '300 when they were already in small workshops limited to the manufacture of classic shoes destined mainly to local markets. Are different, in fact, the city statutes and those of trade associations that tell the importance of the guilds of shoemakers. To start talking about real industry we need, however, to wait for the first three decades of ‘800 when in the municipalities of Montegranaro, Monte Urano, Monte San Giusto and Sant'Elpidio a Mare grows the production of chiochiere (the famous cloth or leather slippers without heels, with foal skin light sole). Born for regional markets, these men's shoes in a “rudimentary" technique gradually begin to be marketed in the Papal States and in the Kingdom of Naples. But the real turning point was in 1870 when it introduced the machine treadle sewing uppers. This innovation will allow:

• To extend the number of municipalities involved in the production of men's shoes;
• To also include female labor within the production chain;
• to initiate an industrial conversion able to replace the chiochiere with cheaper shoes for man and woman.

During the two world wars, however, the production will continue to be restricted. In the first the priority will be the need for a standardization of the product difficult to reach by hand. During the second one will be even the government to set the price of classic standardized man’s shoes. The turnaround began in ‘800 it will then be realized only in the 60s of the '900 with the beginning of real industrial production of footwear. What has facilitated this shift? No doubt the secular tradition and heritage of technical knowledge kept in the territory of the shoe factory of the Marche. To this it joined then the disappearance of sharecropping that liberated productive energies for the sector and, at the same time has enabled the development of an entrepreneurial spirit that she has not left the region.

The characteristics of the biggest area production of man’s shoes in Italy

Today talking about the footwear of Fermo district it refers to three main production poles:

1. the area of Montegranaro, where are realized in particular classic man’s shoes;
2. the area of Monte Urano specialized in children's shoes;
3. the district Civitanova-Porto Sant'Elpidio where production of shoes is concentrated by woman's shoes.

But it also means turning a complex and detailed framework that includes businesses specialized in processing steps, in the production of other bottom stocks, heels and accessories (such as buckles, strings, labels), as well as shoe manufacturers who assemble the product for third parties or produce by own brand. Currently "Montegranaro shoes" is in itself a brand of quality: among the manufacturing guidelines prevail in fact the medium to high segments and the classic product. Elements which confirm the high quality of the district where they employ traditional materials such as leather and leather for uppers and soles.

The trait that unites this picture worthy of a shoe’s artist is, in fact, the skill with which the shoes made in Italy are made, following the canons of the ancient and traditional craft construction. And it's all driven by a real passion for the job, the ability to anticipate the changes and create innovation, the artisan vocation for contemporary business culture.

Montegranaro shoes: Italian excellence in the world

Of course, the difficult economic time does not help the development of the sector, but it can't deny that the true match of the Marche is with the world. The district, in fact, confirms the highest steps of the podium of the Italian footwear export for turnover value. According to Assocalzaturifici, the shoe of the Marche Valley Shoes makes alone these records: 18% of total Italian exports and 10% of the value of regional exports. The major markets are: Germany, which is as many as 153 million euro; Russia with 123 million (land that was affected by the international sanctions and the fall of the demand due to political crises and true winds of war that caused heavy consequences on the economic and financial front); The US with a value of approximately 118 million euro (including shoes and shoe parts).

Montegranaro outlet shoes: the shopping paradise

The Marche-shoe combination is now an established relationship in the collective imagination. This is why, despite advanced technologies, companies of Fermo district are able to put into the product all the craftsmanship that distinguishes the shoes made in Italy. A value that is not only label but is realized concretely in the attention and care of the details, the choice of quality raw materials, the undisputed superiority of a design that will be always fashionable. Because it is not a product but a real status: the elegance and timeless class.

Anyone who spends time in the Marche, therefore, can not avoid being attracted by the many outlets of handmade shoes in the area. There is something for all tastes: sports men's shoes, wedding shoes, classic shoes, the bride and groom's shoes ... an almost infinite variety of patterns and styles at factory prices which can be purchased directly from the factory store of the companies. And not only talking about big brands. Even the smallest family businesses have their sales channel with which to establish a direct link between producer and consumer. Among these realities it is also part the work of Franceschetti, a company that of the binomial “Montegranaro shoes" has made its philosophy of life since the first years of activity.

Actually Franceschetti shoes represent the excellence of an ancient know-how combined with a strong passion for work, as a true love that is still growing up after four generations. And that you can discover in the factory store in Via Fermana nord, 95 in Montegranaro or in the online boutique: www.franceschetti.it.

If you want to delve into the history of Calzaturificio Franceschetti, when it was founded, and what its principles are, then continue reading here.