Which boot manufacturer is closing?

bunnybarista said:

I'm glad I'm not the only one to have heard about this - makes me more inclined to think it is true! I hope they will be able to maintain the same level of quality under the new ownership. (And, selfishly, I'm a bit excited about Tennessee as that's closer for me than California!)

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This is great news for the skating world. I'm planning on going up there next Saturday for a long overdue sharpening so I'll get the straight info from them.

Makes for a difficult decision for us, whether to go with an Sp-Teri boot, or stick with Jackson since they'll now be on the other side of the country. It wouldn't be a problem except for the growing feet part. Of course a yearly visit to Scott Hamilton's Academy might be worthwhile.

Sibelius said:

This is great news for the skating world. I'm planning on going up there next Saturday for a long overdue sharpening so I'll get the straight info from them.

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Please let us know - I'd love to hear it "from the horse's mouth" or however that saying goes haha.

WednesdayMarch said:

Oh, yes, I forgot to pass this on... I had this information passed to me a couple of weeks ago from somebody who emailed SP-Teri to ask about UK stockists or the possibility of ordering direct. Apparently they are "in the process of closing [the] manufacturing in California" and the "new company" expects to be up and running in Tennessee in August or September of this year. No mention of who would be running the new outfit, though.

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That would be an interesting switcheroo, since Avanta originally started out in Nashville and then moved to the Bay Area. I still don't understand why there's no decent bootmaker in the Northeast/MidAtlantic though. More skaters there than in TN, and more likely to find experienced bootmakers in Boston/NYC.

Isn't Scott Hamilton now based in Nashville so maybe there is some link.

Ok folks, here it is straight from George Spiteri this morning. Sorry for the delay, I couldn't get ahold of them for a week or so.

They are selling their manufacturing equipment to an entity in Tennessee. I asked why TN, he said there's actually a boot/shoe making industry there--I had no idea. George and his son Aaron will remain at their current location for a bit longer, but will no longer be making boots (I don't know when they'll actually cease production so get your orders in if you need a pair). They will, more or less be operating as a pro shop, fittings, mountings, sharpenings etc. They're looking to move to a smaller location since they'll have no need of the manufacturing space. A bit bittersweet, but it sounded like he was looking forward to a bit less work and a bit more life, fishing, dancing, etc.

So, it's good for us, since she wants to stay in Jacksons, which they will continue to support. I know at our rink there are lots of little one's who are in Sp-Teri's, so I guess they'll need to make a switch (probably straight to Edea). I wonder if they'll sell and service those--from a boot maker's perspective I'd doubt it, but from a $$$ perspective you'd kind of have to, especially in our area since they've really taken over the rink.

Well, that's what I know from our visit this morning. My skater was disappointed, she thought she was going to get new boots, but he said her Debut's will last her size wise another 6 months and stiffness/skill wise up to 2A. I did tell her that when she gets consistent the doubles she's working on now (2s, 2t, and 2Lo...almost there on all of them) we could look at blades, so we would make a blade transition then a boot transition instead of both at once.

Oh, and additional FYI he said Harlick is moving as well. The rent for the space they're in got jacked way up (gotta love the Silly Valley, tons of construction in that area and land prices are through the roof!) so they're moving reasonably close to their current location from the sound of it.

Sibelius said:

They are selling their manufacturing equipment to an entity in Tennessee. I asked why TN, he said there's actually a boot/shoe making industry there--I had no idea. George and his son Aaron will remain at their current location for a bit longer, but will no longer be making boots (I don't know when they'll actually cease production so get your orders in if you need a pair). They will, more or less be operating as a pro shop, fittings, mountings, sharpenings etc. They're looking to move to a smaller location since they'll have no need of the manufacturing space. A bit bittersweet, but it sounded like he was looking forward to a bit less work and a bit more life, fishing, dancing, etc.

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Let me see if I'm understanding this correctly - they're selling their equipment to some random entity in TN and it sounds like that entity makes regular street shoes, not skating boots. Or will this entity start / keep making skating boots? I suppose even if they did, if they don't use the Sp-Teri lasts, it would still be a very different product. Hopefully I misunderstood, but this news isn't as good as I'd hoped

Hang in there Bunny!
My take is that the random entity - and I would assume they have some knowledge of boot-making - could do quite well making custom boots in an area that does not have a custom skating boot manufacturer. The sale could end up being a win-win for both mfg and customers as it seems like skating is growing in Tennessee.

I think it's the Advanta boots that are made from the old Klingbeil lasts so it's not like this SP-Teri sale and assumption of another company's boot style is a new thing.

But I guess we'll have to wait and see how it goes!

I think what's worse is Harlick having to move all the old, heavy equipment to a new location. That will certainly add to the wait time for custom boots.

bunnybarista said:

Let me see if I'm understanding this correctly - they're selling their equipment to some random entity in TN and it sounds like that entity makes regular street shoes, not skating boots. Or will this entity start / keep making skating boots? I suppose even if they did, if they don't use the Sp-Teri lasts, it would still be a very different product. Hopefully I misunderstood, but this news isn't as good as I'd hoped

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Sorry I didn't specifically ask about that and it didn't dawn on me that they could just be using the boot making equipment for general purposes (now I see that it could be used for just that), but we did mention that Scot Hamilton has a rink there so there was some skating link. When he mentioned the boot/shoe industry there I was thinking of it from a skilled labor supply perspective (economist in me, sorry...)

So, it looks like Sp-Teri is now owned by Bill Fauver. He posted pictures on Facebook talking about shipping the equipment down to Nashville now. Also, his LinkedIn states that he became the president of Sp-Teri this July. https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-fauver-13910a1a

I'm relieved/excited/intrigued to finally know who's taking over the operation! From his resume on LinkedIn, it appears that he has experience with boot-making, having been the president of Avanta for some years, consultant for MK/Wilson blades, and "patent owner" for some kind of skating boot. In addition to that, of course, he was a competitive pairs skater and still is a high-level coach. Excited to see what the future holds...

bunnybarista said:

... and "patent owner" for some kind of skating boot.

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Looked it up. He has a patent on a "Variable flexion resistance sport boot":

https://patents.google.com/patent/US7513068?oq=us+patent+7,513,068

Good stuff - thanks for the update! I'm glad that a longtime and knowledgeable figure skater bought it.
It will be very interesting to see what Bill does with the brand.

bunnybarista said:

So, it looks like Sp-Teri is now owned by Bill Fauver. He posted pictures on Facebook talking about shipping the equipment down to Nashville now. Also, his LinkedIn states that he became the president of Sp-Teri this July. https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-fauver-13910a1a

I'm relieved/excited/intrigued to finally know who's taking over the operation! From his resume on LinkedIn, it appears that he has experience with boot-making, having been the president of Avanta for some years, consultant for MK/Wilson blades, and "patent owner" for some kind of skating boot. In addition to that, of course, he was a competitive pairs skater and still is a high-level coach. Excited to see what the future holds...

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Thanks for that update. It looks like he has the right background to keep the company going, and maybe take them a bit further into the future (or, well frankly the present) with some new ideas. I hope George continues to fit Sp-Teri boots for all those skaters in our area (and there are a whole lot of them, and some really young) for some time to come.

Wow, how interesting is that? He joined Avanta after they took over from Klingbeil, then Avanta moved to CA and they split, and now he's heading Sp Teri? Would love to know the story behind that. What a crazy industry.

Curious patent.

Soon we'll be taking our boots in for an oil change and a firmware update.