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Over the past few years I have been getting more and more concerned about the lack of manufacturing in the United States.  This, for me, was brought into glaring light this past week.  The simple task of looking for a new pair of shoes turned into a major project requiring way too much time spent on researching who in the hell actually manufactures shoes in the United States.  I know this is a place to blog about Pittsburgh, but I still believe that this is relevant and can be applied on a more local level and will hopefully make you think and influence your buying habits.

It is pretty sad when it takes serious research to find someone that is manufacturing their shoes in the United States and not by a sweat shop in China or India.  Of all of the major brand names out there, the only name that most people will recognize is New Balance.  Now when looking at these shoes you still need to be careful because, according my research, most of their shoes are made in the U.S. but not all.  So I looked some more.  There is a healthy handful of smaller companies that make some high end shoes with the price tag to match.  But I want my cake and want to eat it too.  I want a good shoe, that is produced in the U.S., and affordable.  Was I able to find anything?

 Fortunately, I was.  I found it in the Red Wing Shoe Company.  I thought they were just a boot company until I went to their site and took a look at all of their offerings.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a wide variety of styles and even more surprised to find some that I liked!

Unfortunately I have to call myself a hypocrite since I ordered my shoes online.  Before I need my next pair I need to find a local shoe store...no I am not talking a Shoe Department, or a Famous Footware...but a actual LOCAL shop that carries shoes made in the U.S..  I hope to start doing this on a regular basis since I believe that making a concerted effort to seek out locally manufactured products and local stores will do more to boost our economy then a check from the government.