Bahman Irvani fell into the shoe business twice — the second time after his family fled Iran.
His father ran a sports-shoe company in Tehran where Irvani — an accountant by training — did consulting work. But the 1978 Iranian revolution forced the family to leave, including then 27-year-old Irvani.
They went to London, where Irvani and his father invested in a number of businesses — including a Buford shoe company. As that company grew, Irvani decided to move to Flowery Branch to manage it. He now lives in Atlanta, where he is chairman and president of that company, the flip-flop maker Okabashi.
Okabashi employs between 100 and 250 people, depending on the season, and manufactures its two recyclable shoe brands on-site. The Okabashi brand is sold at drugstores, while the pricier OKA b. is sold in spas and at other retailers.
Okabashi shoes are distributed in 16 countries, and the company has sold more than 30 million pairs in the United States. The company has added 250 sales locations this year, while OKA b. is now distributed at an additional 600 retailers.
Q: When you came to the U.S., did you know you were going to restart the family business?
A: We co-invested with an Italian company in some shoe businesses here, in Buford, and at first didn't realize it was going to be our future life. It was a hands-off investment. But then as it became bigger and the opportunity became bigger, and the headaches became bigger, we moved to Atlanta [from London] and adjusted to life in the South and then started loving it.
Q: Can you tell me about the progression of the company?
A: The factory that we have has larger capacity than we've been able to manufacture, to sell. Our capacity has been bigger than our sales, historically... Then the time came that we realized we needed more than one line. And we brought in OKA b., which is our boutique line, and we sell it to a different retail type than Okabashi, which is sold to primarily drug chains. Effectively, they didn't cannibalize each other, and that was the idea. And we were also lucky that e-commerce has picked up. So if you are a small manufacturer in North Georgia, as we are, you can really do a lot of business through e-commerce.
Q: How big of a boost has that been for you?
A: I think it's been about a 20 percent boost in terms of sales. And I think our e-commerce part is growing at a faster rate than our other businesses. We are still learning. E-commerce is not that easy. It looks easy, that you open up a website, you put your product there and you sell it, but in fact there are a lot of nuances. It's a whole different way of looking at things.
Q: I understand you're looking for a winter line with closed-toe shoes?
A: We are, yes. That has been a challenge for us because we've been seasonal in summer. So we starve for five months of the year. We don't lose weight, but we starve. We have three products in the pipeline. On the women's side for OKA b., we are working on a ballerina shoe. It's closed toe, but it's kind of fall/winter as opposed to full winter. I think we are going to introduce that in the next 60 days.
Q: Are there more lines that you expect to introduce?
A: There's a market in orthotics. Orthotic shoes are incredibly expensive and not all of them deliver the features that they promise. We're working on a line of orthotics at a $40 level rather than a $200 level. I think as the population grows older, there'll be more people that need orthotics.
Q: How important is the greenness of the company?
A: It's funny because we've been in business now 26 years and it was not at all an issue or a consideration 15 years ago. The only consideration with being green is that I equate being green with being sensible and just not waste. Not throw money away, and not use something once if you can use it twice. That has always been around. Green in the new sense was not an issue, or wasn't in our mindset, on our radar screen. But it is very important from the consumer's point of view. And we love it because we are green, and it's really been part of our no-waste concept.
Q: Does it appeal to consumers?
A: Being green does, yes. Whether we have people buy a product just because it's green, I'm not sure. It has to be everything else. Has to be well-priced, it has to be durable, good, but then being green makes a difference between the final choice.
Q: Tell me about the name. Okabashi, does it mean anything?
A: It's a neutral Japanese name because the shoes were actually invented in Japan with the footpad, and reflexology and massage piece that they have. And we just felt a Japanese name would be more appropriate. Naming is actually quite fun. And for startup, young companies, naming is very important. I think that it's a difficult name to remember, but once you know it, you really know it. ...Once you learn it, it has a stickiness.
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