Much of my inspiration for On The Fly was born of my own frustrations when shopping for myself. And don't get me wrong, I loved the stores where I shopped. But there were always little things, nagging frustrations, pet peeves, that made me think: "if I ever have a store of my own, I'd do that differently." I have now — had the store, that is — for over 7 years. 

But the menswear retail landscape has changed since we started, and there are changes we need to make in order to keep up. Specifically, I want us to re-evaluate how well we're living up to our tagline: "solutions for the modern gentleman."

Here's a simple example. Back in the day, when I was buying expensive Italian shoes from a local store, I'd make the (mostly) emotional decision to invest in a $500+ pair of shoes, and the sales associate would invariably ask: "do you need shoe trees for them?" Well, of course I do. I think the first time I answered, I mistakenly assumed they were giving them to me with the shoes since I "needed" them. Of course they weren't; I think I paid $30 or $40 for trees.

It's not a big deal, paying for shoe trees. It costs the store money to have them. And I wouldn't be surprised if the vast majority of men don't use shoe trees at all, so why throw in something that the customer may not even value?

But that's exactly the point: the customer may not value them because he doesn't understand why he needs them. They help prevent creases in the leather, absorb moisture from wear, and most importantly, maintain the shape of the shoe. If you're investing in an expensive pair of shoes — and good shoes should be viewed as an investment, since they will typically last much longer than a cheap pair — the #1 thing you can do to care for them is to give them at least a day or two off after wear. The #2 thing you can do is provide them with shoe trees. (The #3 thing would be to shine them regularly.)

So as of today, On The Fly will ship a complimentary pair of shoe trees with every pair of full price shoes costing $250 or more.

We don't have to do it, we want to do it. We'll trust you value it.

On the drive home for Thanksgiving, I stopped by the Michael Toschi warehouse to pick up some shoes for customers, when the Warehouse Manager said he had some things he wanted to show me. Lucky for me, I happen to be a size 9, which is their sample size. Tonight, he showed me some prototyped Ondas in suede in a few different colors. I wouldn't say orange suede was at the top of my wish list, nor would I wear them with charcoal herringbone trousers, but I suspect I'll be getting use out of these...

If you have yet to own a pair of Ondas, you don't know what a real moccasin should feel like. It's easy to question why a pair of shoes so unstructured could cost $425 until you own a pair. Then you start debating which color to get next.

 

I'm in Scotland for the next two weeks, which, ironically, will likely mean I'll have more time to blog than when I'm at the store. True to form, I waited till the morning of the trip to start packing, which reminded me in part* why the company is called "On The Fly."

I am not the world's best planner, so naturally I checked weather.com for the 10 day forecast in Scotland and discovered it's going to rain 9 of the 10 days — and my umbrella was at the store. Despite owning dress shoes in every shade of brown discovered by mankind, I don't own a pair of casual brown shoes. I wasn't going to take my laptop which meant I needed something casual to cart around my iPad 2, umbrella, sunglasses and other essentials. So the taxi to the airport had to make one stop — at the store — for me to pick up a pair of Michael Toschi SUV2's in brown, a Davek umbrella, a Mulholland Waxed Canvas Angler's Bag, and a new Peter Millar golf shirt for my round at the New Course at St. Andrews just because.

So long story short, everything I'm taking — luggage, clothing, accessories, shaving products — except for my toothbrush & toothpaste was obtained at On The Fly. Perfect for the gentleman "on the go." Especially the one that doesn't have the foresight to plan ahead.

* A few weeks back, a wrote a post mentioning that "Boothroyd's" was on a long list of potential names for the store; that entry resulted in 2 of the 5 people that read this blog to ask for the back story of On The Fly. So I'll write that up on this trip too between scotch tastings and golf.

In case you haven't heard, Michael Toschi, the Founder & CEO of Michael Toschi International, will be attending our new store's Grand Opening Party this Friday. As he continues to stonewall the mainstream media, we plan to use the opportunity to get the straight answers to some tough questions. To wit:

• Your given name at birth was Maximillian Pembroke Rothschild IV. What made you change your name?  
  
• We at On The Fly like to say that your shoes have a "cult-like following". If you could belong to a cult --any cult-- which one would you join? 
• I see a lot of shoes coming out now with red soles which is something you've been doing for years. Had you seen that elsewhere when you added it to your line, or was that your creation that other brands are now stealing?
  
• Your socks, for many, are life-changing. But you only make them in solid Navy, Chocolate, Black, and Charcoal. When can we expect a new color? 
• You just returned from Italy. On your last trip, you got into a nasty scooter accident and spent months with a leg in a cast. What gruesome things happened to you on this last trip?
  

Any questions you'd like us to ask him?

Don't get me started on furniture I want to design for the 112 guys like me in the U.S. that own 50+ pairs of shoes. At this point, I have shoes in the closet, under the bed, beside the bed, and my favorites in a hyperbaric chamber. 

Today, after stopping in the Michael Toschi store in San Francisco, the salesperson-turned-photographer-turned-crime-stopper-but-that's-another-story, was talking about how much he loves his blue Vela's. They look nicely worn in, and certainly comfortable. I mentioned that I owned a pair of Vela's as well, but I rarely wear them. Of course, I think I rarely wear them because they're red, white & blue, and despite my love of country, it's a little much sometimes (the giant flag pins I wear on each lapel should be enough).  

Then I realized that I didn't wear them on the 4th of July! The one day a year I should be wearing those shoes without question, and I didn't even remember I owned them because they're hiding under the bed. And then it hit me that they would have been the perfect accent for U.S. vs. England, Slovenia, Algeria, Ghana games during the World Cup. The World Cup is quadrennial, and now it's going to be another 3.95 years before I'll have an excuse to wear those shoes every few days. 

There's got to be a better way...or someday I'll design it.