Textile Insight

PROFILE | FOOTWEAR MATERIALS SUPPLIER 36 • Textile Insight ~ July/August 2017 textileinsight.com A Quarter Century in Business is a "Whirlwind of Excitement and Change." aving spent her career in the footwear materials world, Donna Sheehan is no stranger to change. She's ridden the performance wave as New England became a hot bed of athletic footwear innovation, but also witnessed the decline of local production as factories closed across the Northeast landscape. When Sheehan Sales was founded, customer info was noted in a bulging Rolodex, and Sheehan recalls when her husband and business partner Jim Sheehan set up shop in their Topsfield, MA office one of the first purchases was something called a fax machine. Now on the eve of the company's 25th anniversary, a new website is launching, new product is rolling out, a more aggressive marketing campaign is in the works, and an iPhone is always close at hand. "When my husband Jim and I made the decision to start this business, the number one promise we made was to become partners with our customers in the truest sense of the word," says Sheehan who serves as CEO. "That meant responding to nearly impossible deadlines, offering fabrics that added value to their shoes, backpacks or apparel and fairly pricing our goods so they could, in turn, offer fair prices to their consumers." The Sheehan's have not strayed from their original business plan: "Narrow and deep in performance marketplace delivering a quality product as good business partners and a good supplier." Yet Sheehan has learned that keeping pace with changing times is critical. "We don't stop exploring, and are always thinking about how we can improve our product," states Sheehan, who works alongside her son Mike Sheehan, VP sales and marketing. Product & Partnerships The latest textile development is etc.MD, a new stretch version of the company's workhorse product etc. "MD" stands for Multi-Directional and as such the stretch material is ideally suited for today's athletic footwear, apparel and sporting goods products. "Everybody always asks, 'What's new?'" states Sheehan, "But we're not going to introduce something new unless it's providing a unique feature and outperforms what already is offered." The etc.MD provides stretch performance and features all the attributes of the original etc. product. The anti-friction technology central to etc. translates to less heat, and moisture build-up. Less moisture build-up means less odor-causing bacteria. These benefits add up to more comfort. Sheehan Sales has a dual sourcing strategy that enables close communication with its manufacturing partners. "And it allows us to use the best-suited mill and dye house for that particular product," Sheehan explains. North America product is made and sold here; Asia product is made and sold there. "Twelve years ago we set up partnership in Asia. It was not an easy decision. But we felt we had to do it," explains Sheehan, who adds that in those days, when she talked about product made-in-USA, "it was crickets. There was no response forthcoming." Overseas production continues to this day with Sheehan's original partner, a testament to Sheehan's valued working relationships. The company has ties with Nike, adidas, Reebok and Arc'teryx, insole Sheehan Sales Steps Up Sheehan materials are featured in a wide assortment of products ranging from footwear componentry for performance and casual styles to linings used in helmets for elite equestrians.

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