TOMS Shoes » texas

TOMS and whole foods market

bradotts — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:12:25 +0000

Brad is currently responsible for TOMS Boutique sales and our relationship with Whole Foods Market and recently shared his story on the official WFM blog (we brought his story here to share with all of you!). He is passionate about social entrepreneurship, simple community based living, cooking, organic gardening, music playing (guitar, banjo, pedal steel, piano), and tattoos…more tattoos. Read his full bio here.

When I started working at TOMS (when the company was only about 4 weeks old), the first thing that I said to our fearless leader, Blake, was “Whole Foods is a company that we must partner with as they will not only understand what we are doing, but they will want to be a part of it as well.”

Eighteen months later, after countless hours of hard work, we launched our first exclusive collection of Eco-Friendly/Vegan shoes with Whole Foods Market. Since then, we have continued to explore the world of environmentally friendly materials, along with launching a shoe for those who practice a vegan lifestyle.

Brad sporting his favorite Cordones

In just under two years, through the Whole Foods partnership and the purchases of caring customers, we have given just over 37,240 pairs of new shoes to children in need.

It is amazing the needs that these shoes have met and continue to meet around the world. In areas of deep poverty, shoes can play a role that goes far beyond comfort, including access to education and prevention of disease (bare feet make children susceptible to a wide range of diseases and parasites). It has truly blown me away how the Whole Foods Market team members have rallied around these needs, becoming some of the most dedicated, excited and passionate advocates for the One for One mission that I have come across in my almost four years here at TOMS.

A GIVE window made out of TOMS at a Whole Foods Market location

We are honored and excited to partner with such a great company, who is not only working to help bring us better quality food for what we put IN our bodies, but also for what we put ON our bodies.

So, live fully, love others unconditionally, and if you happen to run into your neighborhood Whole Foods Market for some locally sourced tomatoes, basil or rainbow chard, make sure to stop by the Whole Body department to become part of the One for One movement.

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oh, the places TOMS takes me

bmycoskie — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:54:42 +0000

Recently, I was part of a “Celebrity Tennis Tournament” back in Texas at the Austin Tennis Academy. The entire event was to benefit TOMS and Glimmer of Hope- it was great to get back on the court and share TOMS with more new faces. One of the girls there, Caroline Stockdale, told me she was one of the first people to wear TOMS on her campus. Other students thought they were strange-looking shoes, but once she shared the One for One story, they started to get on board. I wonder how many people are now part of the One for One movement just because Caroline wore her TOMS with pride It just takes one!

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TOMS in texas

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:24:30 +0000

When Fall hits, you know its time for one of the premier festivals in the country: Austin City Limits. Texas is filled TOMS supporters, especially when ACL comes around. Being able to have a booth where we can interact over 80,000 people every day is just an amazing opportunity. Some are new, as we excitedly share the One for One movement and help outfit them in their first pair of TOMS, and some festival-goers return year after year to the TOMS booth wearing their TOMS just to say hello. This year, we have a sales rep, a VP of sales, a couple interns, a past-Vagabond, and UT campus reps out to man the booth in our 3rd year selling at the festival. TOMS will have women’s black canvas, red canvas, ash canvas, white canvas, and burlap styles; and men’s black canvas, ask canvas, black burlap, and beige Stitchout styles available- get ‘em while they last (or head over to TOMSshoes.com if your style sells out). ACL provides the perfect outlet to associate TOMS with great music and interact awesome people. If you make it out, drop by the TOMS booth, open all 3 days 11:00am – 10:00pm and say hi!

And if you’re on Twitter, send twitpics when you spot people wearing TOMS (@TOMSshoes) so the rest of us here at HQ can be envious of how much fun you all are having.

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why do all good things come to an end?

hajarMW — Fri, 22 May 2009 00:07:53 +0000

Yes I said “end” but we will be Vagabonds for life!!This experience was quite a journey and I think all of us have learned so much about ourselves in the process. To all of our readers who have been following our tour and watching our videos, thank you for all of your support. We will leave this experience with some great stories to share with our friends and families. I will never forget the crazy moments with our 15 passenger van. Driving that thing was an experience in itself.

Time definitely went by fast for us. Just being back at the office and driving down Olympic Blvd. again has brought back so many memories of the beginning of our journey. I feel we have grown so much in this short time and I’m glad to see all of the familiar faces at HQ and even some new faces, too! Vagabonds, I love you all and it has been a privilege to get to know and make memories with all of you. I have to say that I started this tour with 3 pairs of TOMS and I am leaving with 15! My favorite right now is the pair that i designed while we were in Chicago, what do you think? Cool huh? I plan to wear them all summer and enjoy my TOMS tan lines too.

So long guys! Peace and love be with all of you! -Hajar

Eleven weeks on the road. Insane. We were sent off in style, and brought back in style. Friday we got here and were welcomed with hugs, smiles, rainbows, and cookies. Just kidding about the cookies. But seriously, the last week I’ve just been taking some time to think about what I just did. What we all just did. We just put shoes on so many kids feet, together. I had no idea at the beginning of this that it would feel this great, that I would feel like I accomplished something so grand. And truth be told, I didn’t do it alone. You guys did it, too. Maybe you didn’t buy a pair of shoes on the tour, but you read our blogs, watched our videos, and encouraged us while we were on the road. You kept us going when we didn’t think we could drive another mile or lift another box. So this is as much your accomplishment as ours. Thank you.

As for the next move, I’m planning on debriefing from being on the road. I might need to keep a TOMS box in my car at all times, and randomly carry it into places to unload it. I also will probably need to do laundry at laundromats for a bit, just to not have a complete shock to the system. Maybe one day I’ll have clothes in a closet, and will sleep and shower in the same place everyday, but at heart I’ll always be a Vagabond. Tia OUT.

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retailer download: root

admin — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:45:59 +0000

Three words: Amazing. Window. Display… they hang a paperdoll for each pair of TOMS sold, to represent the child who will receive a pair of new shoes thanks to that purchase! Meet our friends at Root, a TOMS retailer in Fredericksburg, TX.

TOMS: How did you hear about TOMS?
ROOT: A TOMS representative heard about our store and contacted me. Immediately, when I learned the TOMS story, I was moved and knew that we needed to be a part of it.

T: How long have you been carrying TOMS?
R: Almost a year. We got our first shipment last June.

T: What shoe has been your best seller?
R: The prints are all good. White Ghandi and the University Rope Soles, especially.

T: Do you get many customers who recognize the shoes?
R: Yes, it is amazing to see the range of customers that come in to buy TOMS.

T: What makes your store special, why should people come visit?
R: Our location, for one thing – we are in Fredericksburg, a beautiful and quaint town in central Texas, full of wineries, wildflowers, and bed & breakfasts. But most importantly, our merchandise mix – we carry women’s clothing and accessories from the most current, hip, and sought after labels. Last year, we were named by Lucky Magazine as one of the Top 50 Stores in Texas – and Texas is a big place – so that’s pretty neat. And we believe whole-heartedly in TOMS and the possibility to make a positive change.

Root
306 E. Main St.
Fredericksburg, Texas, 78624
(830) 997-1844

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team sw in texas? oklahoma?

krystenSW — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 00:37:11 +0000

After Team SW left Phoenix, Arizona, we began the grueling drive across New Mexico. Where were we headed? Not anywhere in the southwest region of the United States, as you might suspect. We were headed to Lubbock, Texas. Our Midwest team is rocking it out there on the road, but the Midwest (primarily Texas) is just one big place with a lot of ground to cover. So we decided to tackle the event at Texas Tech University, where we helped pre-sell shoes for an event at a local Lubbock TOMS retailer, Chrome. They have an awesome event this Saturday, April 4th, from 10:00 – 6:00 PM, with lots of live music and food – and will, of course, be selling TOMS! Our Texas Tech campus rep Jordan and her roommate Jennifer definitely showed us some Texas hospitality – Jordan gave up her bed for us to sleep in! They were wonderful girls and really wish we could’ve stayed longer.

After Lubbock, we drove on to Dallas, where we stayed for the night to break up our drive north to Norman, Oklahoma. I have family in Dallas and Kelli has friends in Fort Worth, so it was nice to see them all briefly. The highlight of our time in Dallas, however, was the fact that we ran into two crazy girls who are traveling the country in a 15 passenger van, selling shoes at high school and college campuses! Wait…that sounds oddly familiar. You’ve got it, Team SW ran into the infamous Midwest Team, in all their glory. They were headed down to Houston for an event, but we had just enough time to grab breakfast with them, swap stories, and share some love. It was fun to see the Vagavans parked next to each other and snag some photos of us all reunited.

Before heading up to Oklahoma, we made one last stop in Dallas on our way out. We visited Kelsey Brandon, one of the OG Vagabonds, or a member of Vagabonds Season 1, if you will. This girl is probably the sweetest thing on earth. She had a bag full of goodies ready for us when we got there, as well as lots of smiles and hugs while she asked us how the tour was going so far.

When we finally arrived in Norman, OK, we were thrilled to meet Natalia – the best friend of our beloved HQ intern Danielle – who let us crash at her place for a few days. Our event at University of Oklahoma was the jam (props to both our campus rep Kelli and the former rep Kojo, for setting it all up), and we can’t wait to see what the next two weeks worth of events in Oklahoma are going to be like (most likely out of this world – duh).

We love you all! TOMS all day!

Krysten

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reunited.

tiaMW — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:03:49 +0000

Hello people of the interwebs! Guess what? We are still in Texas! Surprise!

I’m typing this en route to North Richland Hills for an event tonight. We drove in from Houston where we had an event last night! It was pretty much the greatest thing ever. This church has pledged to give 10,000 shoes in Uganda when they go there on a mission trip in August! I was inspired by how passionate everyone was about TOMS. They even have a TOMS committee that sets up a table to sell before and after church every Sunday. Legit, if you ask me. And you didn’t, but I decided to tell you anyways. Also, we got the chance to meet Jill! She’s one member of the TOMS family that we hadn’t gotten to meet because she’s mostly in Texas. She was great, and had a lot of positive, encouraging things to say to us. I personally can’t wait to see her in LA in May!

On Monday night/Tuesday morning, we got the chance to spend a little bit of time with the Southwest Vagabonds! Now, you might be saying, “but Tia. Fort Worth isn’t Southwest!” And you would be correct. But, compared to, let’s say Maine, it is indeed Southwest. It was wonderful reunion, and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. We were needing a little vaga-love, and that they came with. We had breakfast, and I made this:

God Bless Texas! We only have a few more weeks in this great state too! Then we head to the rest of the Midwest! You guys have big shoes to fill. I’m not sure how fun a Kansas shaped Waffle would be. Although, you never know…

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vagabond voyage on video: week tres

admin — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:52:32 +0000

Starting next week, we will be delivering these videos to you daily… but for now, enjoy the entire slue of Vagabond videos for their third week out on the road.

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One week down…

Becky Hartness — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:24:55 +0000

Team Southeast has been on the road for one week now! We have traveled through four states so far and spent many long hours in the van but enjoying our time nonetheless! While passing through New Mexico, we came upon a unique opportunity to advertise TOMS: a bathroom at a highway gas station. That’s right, the bathroom. The gas station had posters on the wall specifically for travelers to sign! So of course, we had to leave our mark. ;D

We were lucky to stay in Austin, TX with some friends for two whole days before traveling to Louisiana for our first event on Saturday. One word to describe Austin, TX: AMAZING! Austin is now one of my new favorite cities in America. The people are awesome and the vibes are so good! We probably spent a good 5 hours of our time at Whole Foods, where they happened to be having a “Teens Turning Green” event with the TOMS vegan line featured on the display. We were able to pass out flyers and talk to some people about TOMS. It was great! I even got to do a short interview that could potentially air on youtube. I found that it really easy to talk to anyone in Austin whether it be in the grocery store or in line for stamps at the post office so we were able to keep the TOMS word spreading all the time!

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