Sorel is a company that is mainly known for their shoes and boots. The company has in the later years been a leader in the winter shoes department. They produce some of the warmest and most comfortable shoes that are on the market. Actually the boots have become high fashion in a lot of the colder regions of the world.
The name Sorel does not come from the place that most people think it does. While there is a city called Sorel in Quebec, it has no direct link to the name of the shoes. The shoes were created in Kitchener, Ontario by a man name A. R. Kaufman in 1907. He also created a few other brands. The most known of them are probably Black Diamond and Fraser.
Sorel became the most popular and successful of Kaufmans brands thanks to its very high quality and usability. Even though the Kaufman family started it's production in 1907, the Sorel shoes were not introduced to the marked until 1959. It was a success right from the start, and has continued to grow over the years, and today it is bigger than ever. The reason for Kaufman choosing the name "Sorel" is said to be that he wanted to give people associations to the town of Sorel, which was known in the post war time as a rugged and stable town with shipbuilding and steel production.
In 2000 the Sorel company was declared bankrupt. Following a few warm winters and some business deals that went south, they couldn't pay the bills anymore. Up until that time, the boots had been made in on Kings street in Kitchener, Ontario. They where one of the few companies that made boots in Canada then. After the bankruptcy Columbia Sportsware came in and bought the name. They still own it today. The shoes are now made in China.
Irony has led to the shoe becoming an even bigger success after the bankruptcy. The reason is mainly that Columbia has managed to get the production costs down to a level that makes the shoes very affordable compared to many of its competitors. It should be mentioned that the shoes still have the same quality as it had during the Kaufman days.
