We’re so humbled and privileged to have you as a valued member of our tribe! As we have big announcements and try new things as an organization, we’re especially excited to first share those things with you. And when we announce, we want to take the time to tell you why we’re choosing to do these things.
So here we go, we’re unveiling a re-designed version of The Shoe That Grows and also will be making them available for you to purchase for you and your family!
Whether you’ve supported us with your time and attention, supported us financially, or maybe even helped us by putting shoes on kids in need, you are a part of our team. And today we’re excited to share this special news with our team.
We’re introducing a newly designed version of The Shoe That Grows. We’ve used your feedback, feedback from kids who have received the shoes, and feedback from some of the most knowledgeable footwear experts in the world to make The Shoe even better than before. The current version is awesome, but we’re always chasing the ideal and looking for ways we can make The Shoe more functional, durable, and comfortable than ever. More to come on when we’ll start producing and distributing this updated version.
Our goal is simple. We want to get as many life-changing shoes as we can to incredible kids all around the world. With an estimated 300 million kids around the world who need shoes - this is a tall order. Along the way you have convinced us that by making our sandals available to any family that wants to purchase, we can better deliver on our mission of getting properly fitting shoes on the feet of every child, everywhere. For the past year as we’ve worked on the redesigned version, we’ve focused on a design that is the best shoe for kids living in poverty and also functional, durable, and comfortably-designed for kids and families everywhere.
It’s important for a variety of reasons that this commercial offering is done with some separation from Because International and The Shoe That Grows. So we’re launching under the brand name GroFive, and we're thrilled to announce what we’re calling the expanding sandals – Expandals! Just like The Shoe That Grows, Expandals increase in size to keep up with your child's growing feet, and will come in a variety of fun colors and designs.
The Shoe That Grows will always remain a nonprofit, while GroFive and Expandals will be the commercial side of our growing shoes and will help support The Shoe That Grows by giving back to kids in need for every pair of Expandals that is sold.
We’ve decided to launch via a Kickstarter campaign this summer. By doing a Kickstarter campaign, we’ll see how many people are willing to support us before we spend a lot of money ordering shoes and launching the new brand. Following the Kickstarter we’ll place the first order and send Expandals to those who support the Kickstarter. And then later this year we’ll plan to have inventory and make Expandals available to order directly from us.
We hope you are as excited about this as we are. And we already know many of you are as you’ve encouraged us to pursue this opportunity over the years. We won’t communicate a lot about GroFive and Expandals through these newsletters moving forward. But if you’d like to stay updated, please let us know and we’ll add you to the GroFive mailing list. And by joining, you’ll be the first to know when we launch on Kickstarter and be eligible for a special discount! All you need to do is reply to this email and let us know you’d like to be added!
And you can learn more by visiting our website – www.grofive.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram!
Thanks again for the encouragement as we’ve considered this opportunity. Again, we hope you share with us in our excitement about GroFive and how this can help get great footwear to any family while also getting more shoes to more kids all around the world!
Check out the Expandals!
Thank you for your voice and support over the years and for making this leap possible. Here we go!
-The Shoe That Grows Team
And as always, Tim If you need anything, or have any questions, or just want to say hi (: please reply to any of our emails. We're real people on the other side!
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