When Portugal accepted an international bailout a few years ago, its rescue lenders pushed an orthodox strategy for digging out of recession. Cut wages and prices, they instructed, and exports will become more competitive. Shoes factories, here in Felgueiras the Portuguese footwear capital, did just the opposite—and they are thriving. We have boosted wages to … Continued

It is usual to hear that shoe factories don’t produce small quantities but, in part, this is absolutely not true. Of course, factories like to work with major customers, able to order huge quantities but, in our opinion, the best solutions consists in creating a mix between “big”, “middle-size” and “small” customers. The reason are … Continued