Owners Ryan and Rachel Hunt create custom footwear from start to finish
Schloop is an attention-getting name and the business garners attention, too. Owned by Ryan and Rachel Hunt in Meridian, and sometimes referred to as Shoe Loop, the business designs and manufactures shoes. It’s complete with a laboratory, factory and their own brand, Black Swan.
The journey started with pollution, algae and Ryan Hunt’s research paper. His work with Algix, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to clean up pollution using algae, led to an algae-based material that produces resin polymers used in shoe soles.
“More than 100 well-known footwear brands use our resin,” said Ryan Hurt. “The problem was that none of these brands manufactured shoes; it was all done in China.”
Hunt, who spent a lot of time in China and didn’t find it pleasant, is on a mission to bring footwear manufacturing back to the U.S. “We had to go full bore and learned that the assembler of shoes is most important,” he said. “This journey led to making shoes. We brought in an expert from Italy, where they’re the best shoemakers, because we didn’t want to do it with China.”
Although Hunt feels his company can’t compete with China where workers are paid pennies on the dollar, he treats people fairly and respects their craft. Professional sewers were brought in from the furniture industry and re-trained.
“Now we can make it all in house using an Italian-based cup sole like they do in Italy,” he said. “We have 30-plus employees and make nine styles with more in development.”
One of the Hunts’ goals is to help small brands and to that end they work with a variety of companies. “Everybody wants to get out of China, and we needed to show the world we can make shoes,” said Hunt.
In addition to the Black Swan brand, Schloop makes custom sneakers and specials for restaurants, singers, artists and NBA all-stars. They’re working with 124 retailers in Mississippi and are planning to open an outlet store. Retail sales are also available on their website.
Located in the Meridian Industrial Park, Schloop has a growth platform and hopes to attract more companies in the shoe industry to the park. “We want to watch it bloom and grow. We’re excited to come to work every day,” said Hunt.
“Everyone wears shoes so everyone is a critic.”