Dubarry Limited

2 . Background

2.1 Company History

Dubarry has a long history. Local community leaders in Ballinasloe, County Galway, established the company back in 1937 primarily as a co-operative initiative to provide local employment. They had approached a footwear manufacturer in Northampton, England, and offered it an opportunity to establish a plant in Ireland. The footwear manufacturer, which specialised in ladies shoes, had previously operated as a subcontractor in the UK but used the shift to Ireland to create its own label. A French countess provided the inspiration for the brand name Dubarry, which the company believed had the necessary “international sounding” sophistication.

For the following forty years, Dubarry built a solid reputation as a quality footwear manufacturer. Sales were helped at that time by the prevailing import duties applicable to overseas products. As Michael Walsh, marketing director of the company today points out: “In those days they made shoes and people bought them”.

The company began to diversify in the 60s and moved into the subcontracting market, making moccasins for a Danish company, which specialised in marine wear. For many years the partnership worked well and Dubarry built up considerable expertise in the production of sailing shoes. However when the Danish company hit financial problems, Dubarry was left with a situation where they had the engineering skills and investment in place for this specialist footwear but no market. The company then began to market directly itself to the marine sector. By the early 80s Dubarry itself had run into problems. Ireland had become part of the European Community, and with the disappearance of trade barriers, the company found itself in a very different competitive environment. It had continued as a family run venture but in 1982, there was a management buyout with Enterprise Ireland taking a 40% stake to ensure ongoing employment at the company. The company changed dramatically.

“Prior to that as a company it had been production-led, they were brilliant shoe makers but they didn’t have the marketing or commercial skills to exploit the new environment which had come about. After the management buyout the emphasis changed and Dubarry become much more marketing and export focused,” says Walsh. In 1998 the management buyout was completed in that Enterprise Ireland’s share was bought back by current management, making Dubarry a wholly private Irish-owned company.

“That whole evolution since the first buyout was to build up the niche market in the sailing industry. It was about recognising that if an Irish brand was going to make it abroad it could only be in a niche market – there wouldn’t have been the resources to go too broadly into general footwear. We’ve continued to build on our expertise in sailing and the position today is that our export business is purely based on our sailing and outdoor products,” explains Walsh.

In the domestic Irish market Dubarry has continued as a general footwear brand although in the last few years two standalone additional brands have been introduced – AV8 for the teenage boys market and Trix for the teenage girls market. Neither of these have any association with Dubarry. They each have their own packaging and identity. “Nobody but the trade knows they’re from Dubarry. They’re standalone brands with international images that stand up alongside brands like Doc Martens and Caterpillar for example,” explains Walsh.

The company still supplies a broad range of adult mens and ladies shoes and also has a label called ‘Kids by Dubarry’.

2.2 Market Background

Currently the domestic general footwear market accounts for about 50% of Dubarry’s revenues. The balance comes from its specialist marine and outdoor brands with about 12% of that coming from the Start of case study market and the rest from overseas markets. The long-term aim for the company is to develop the specialist markets even further. “Dubarry has become the number one performance technical footwear brand within the international sailing market. If you go to any of the major off shore sailing regattas Dubarry is the brand of choice. For example we are the official footwear supplier to the Volvo Ocean Race which is one of the greatest ocean races” says Walsh. Dubarry’s products compete on performance and functional benefits – specifically as waterproof, breathable, non-slip footwear.

“What we’ve managed to do is get sailors to trade up from a o25 Wellington boot to a o190 waterproof breathable leather boot. If you’re sailing in the southern ocean in the Volvo race between Cape Town and Sydney, you’re out in sub-zero conditions. These people get really wet so they need their feet to be warm and dry. You’re talking about people who are exposed to really serious conditions. The non-slip sole on the surface of a boat is really important and in any independent tests we consistently come out as the number one non-slip brand,” adds Walsh. The Dubarry marine range covers a multitude of products including boots, shoes, ladies shoes and an aquasport collection, all of which are sub niches within the overall sailing market. The company has also developed what is essentially a “mirror image” collection for the outdoor market where it has used the same technology but adapted it to the outdoor lifestyle. “Hunting, shooting, fishing type activities,” says Walsh.

According to Walsh the marketing strategy since the management buyout has been to develop the brand. “By that I mean going out into the international environment and looking for distributors for the brand; focusing in on the niche market and getting the best we possibly can out of product performance bearing in mind that we don’t have significant financial resources. It’s a case of if you can’t outspend the competition you have to out perform them technically, or out manoeuvre them commercially. The company puts a lot of effort into making sure our products are on the world’s best sailors, by hook or crook. In other words you get this pyramid approach -- target the best publications, the best sailors, the best events and this percolates down to the lower echelons. That’s not rocket science but it works.”