Trimfoot Co, A 100 Year Old Start Up Company
In 1938, Trimfoot Company introduced a wool felt gift shoe for newborn babies in the first transparent package used in footwear. This launched the company into the infants and children's footwear field. With the introduction of infants and children's footwear came the need to market the product. The first order that came for the new product was from Macy's in New York. A Western Union telegraph boy presented the shoes on a silver platter. The order was communicated by the old Teletype system. Within a year, over 4,000 dealers were stocking Baby Deer shoes.
Around 1950, Trimfoot reached an agreement with Disney to make house slippers with applique´s featuring the Disney characters. The agreement was the product of a close friendship between J.B. Reinhart Sr. and Walt Disney, who apparently hunted quail and pheasant together. This project was well received with the department stores and helped to promote additional Trimfoot products. Davy Crockett Indian moccasins, Bambi shoes and a Mickey Mouse line were some of the notable characters produced in footwear through 1959. The production requirements of the Disney slipper program coupled with the post war baby boom dramatically increased Trimfoot employment levels. Employment reached an all time high of 856 in Farmington, MO with two other Trimfoot factories pushing total employment of 1,000.
In 1962, a new infants' footwear line, Wee Kids, was introduced. Wee Kids was targeted to the new emerging discount industry. Shortly after, Trimfoot acquired Moran Shoe Company, makers of Wee Walkers Shoes.
In the early 80's, TrimKids make-up division was started. Baby Deer launched new packaging and point-of-sale fixtures. Trimfoot also acquired new license agreements in the 80's; Shirt Tales, Masters of the Universe and Rainbow Brite.
On November 16, 2016 in Farmington, MO, a footwear industry leader for over 100 years, dedicated to providing fashionable, quality footwear for the infant, children, women, and dance markets, released an announce about the addition of new leadership in our sales and management teams. This announcement marks the movement of all Trimfoot Co. brands, including cornerstone brand Baby Deer, into a new direction refocusing our brands with the end user in mind. We are working to update our packaging, our styles, our selection and our availability to the consumer.
