We quite frankly didn’t realize how popular our new line of sandals would be when we decided to make them using a third world technique to impart that “Third World Chic” effect our company is known for.
I’m speaking of course about sandals that are constructed using old tires. If anybody had told me that orders for these were going to be off the charts, I wouldn’t have believed it, but the retailers are loving them.
Eskalation Clothing doesn’t accept just any old tires to manufacture our product line. Perhaps that’s why their popularity is growing so, they are stylish, well constructed, totally durable and quite comfortable.
But I quickly began running out of the right kind used tires that worked best in the construction. I had to start Googling tire services in all the major cities along our route to see what could be scared up.
An Old Fashioned Tire Services Shop in Indiana was Our Salvation
I was delighted to make the acquaintance of Mahlon Penner, the founder, owner and operator of Penner Tire Service in Hardinsburg, Indiana.
As luck would have it, he represents a goodly number of foreign tire brands and has a tremendous inventory of these tires, used but still in fine shape for our purposes.
You might not immediately realize it, but sourcing just the right tires is tricky. Some states highly regulate tire services.
Old tires in land fills represent a fire hazard, a source of mosquito breeding habitat and are just a waste of something that can be recycled as shoes, soft landing pellets for kid’s playgrounds and several other things.
Mahlon Penner looked at a pair of the sandals my employee was wearing and pretty much understood the whole thing right away.
So, we now get most of our inventory of raw materials from him, we bring them to our Chicago warehouse where the tires get cut up into the necessary patterns.
Some of our designs even make use of the sidewalls of the tire which gets laminated to the working part of the sole.
Left-over’s are sent out for additional types of recycling. Getting just the right used tires from Penner Tire Service makes all the difference in the world and we really appreciate the tire services they provide us.
It Was A No-Brainer!
Needless to say, when it came time to replace the tires on our step van, we went to Mahlon Penner and had him do it! We’ve also received an oil change or two from his crew.
They’re really a great little company there in Southern Indiana, they have many loyal customers that come visit them from miles around just to receive that good old fashioned, polite and throughout treatment.
The customers know they have found a great place which offers them great value and good, reliable tire services.
Next time your driving by Hardinsburg, Indiana, stop in and pay our friends at Penner Tire Service a visit. You’ll be glad you did!