Established in over 250 locations across 15 countries, including national franchise chains in the USA, Australia, Canada and the Middle East, Foot Solutions is a specialty retail franchise opportunity focusing on supplying comfort shoes, custom arch supports and foot care products. A Foot Solutions franchisee is equipped with state of the art technology to provide expert advice and footwear solutions to a broad range of customers, including athletes, people with foot problems and people that simply have an interest in general well being.

The concept was brought to the Irish market last year with the establishment of a pilot operation in Cork by John and Tony Linehan. The brothers have taken on the Foot Solutions Master Franchise covering the entire UK and Ireland and are now looking to roll out a franchise development programme across the two countries by granting single and multiple-unit franchises to individuals keen to establish retail operations in this new market segment.

"The shoe and foot care industry in the UK is estimated to be worth £5.85 billion," says John Linehan. "Foot Solutions centres focus on providing a complete service, including the custom arch supports, orthotics and specialty retail foot care items, but most importantly we offer a line of shoes designed to accommodate inserts and orthotics.

"Over 90 per cent of foot problems today are caused or aggravated by improperly fitted shoes. Our franchisees and personnel are not only trained to fit shoes properly, but also understand the modifications and adjustments that need to be made to the shoe for proper fit to alleviate problems. We actually create a custom fit solution for each customer."

THE MARKETPLACE
Foot Solutions was founded by Certified Pedorthist Ray Margiano Ph.D and franchisees are supported by Foot Solutions' state of the art Pedorthic laboratory and Training facility in Atlanta, Georgia which is headed by Dr William Faddack DPM and certified by the Board for Certification in Pedorthics. The retail concept is very customer-focused, with a fully trained assistant spending an average of 45 minutes with each customer.

Foot Solutions provides a wide range of shoe styles including comfort, sport, dress, preventative and casual, in addition to specific physiological shoes that have health and wellness benefits. "These shoes, such as MBT and Chung Shi, can help improve posture and reduce, or in some cases eliminate, foot pain and associated symptoms such as knee and lower back pain," says John. "Our highly trained consultants understand feet and all of the problems that they may encounter.

"Research has shown that 38.3 per cent of the population in the UK are overweight with 22.7 per cent being obese. In addition 2 million people or 3.5 per cent of the population have type 2 diabetes and between 33 per cent and 50 per cent of European workers spend more than four hours a day walking or standing on their feet. Virtually no major retailer brings orthotics, shoe-fitting, shoes and foot care products together. Most existing competitors are focused primarily on the medical pedorthic and orthotic needs, while our concept focuses on a larger market, with particular attention to ages 35 and older."

FOOT SOLUTIONS UK OPPORTUNITY
John and Tony Linehan spent a number of years looking for "the next big thing" to bring to the UK and Irish markets. "Foot Solutions is a concept at the beginning of its life cycle," says John. "The health and wellness sector is growing rapidly and while the monetary rewards are high, there are other rewards to be had from this sector.

"The brand has fast become the world's leading health and wellness franchise focusing on foot care, comfort shoes and custom arch supports. One of the key advantages of the Foot Solutions business is the amount of repeat and referral business that you can achieve. A high percentage of our customers are referred by friends or the medical community such as doctors, physiotherapists and podiatrists."

With the pilot launched in September 2007, Foot Solutions has begun its UK and Ireland roll out and already has five stores open and a further five in the pipeline. "Our expectation is to exceed 200 stores across both countries and we are ensuring that our growth is well planned and organised," says John. "Our primary focus is to deliver a top class support service to our existing franchisees. We would also like for our existing franchisees to grow with us and expand to neighbouring territories."

Foot Solutions is seeking individuals with a strong corporate or business background who may be looking for a career change as candidates for its franchise opportunity. With no requirement for retail, pedorthics or foot care experience thanks to the intensive training course provided to every franchisee, the company is able to offer an opportunity to candidates with the appropriate people skills combined with a desire to succeed.

"The market for a Foot Solutions business is extraordinary," says founder Ray Margiano. "It is a business with little competition, few employees (two to start), reasonable hours and high margins. We enjoy strong customer retention and repeat business with minimal direct competitors. Foot Solutions is the leader in its industry segment with the most stores and industry leading services and products."

John adds: "What is really exciting is that because Foot Solutions is just entering the UK market, there are opportunities for high calibre franchisees or serious business investors to secure large multi store territories. I am pretty sure that opportunity does not come around too often."

Report by Stuart Anderson