End of an experiment

Five years ago, a man with an idea had the acumen to put that idea to a real-life test. In the face of overwhelming foreign competition, Eli Fishman decided to start a company in Cape Girardeau that would use American raw materials to produce high-quality shoes and work boots. Thus the Cape Shoe Co. began operations in what had been the Florsheim shoe factory.

Cape Shoe occupied a building that had been constructed in the 1960s by Florsheim, which began making shoes in Chicago in 1892 and is still known for its quality products. Florsheim closed its Cape Girardeau plant in 1999, following a trend among U.S. shoe manufacturers.

At one time, almost every town of any size in Southeast Missouri had a shoe factory. These plants provided employment over the years to thousands of area residents. When the plants started closing, whole communities felt the economic blow.

Cape Shoe took over the former shoe factory shortly after Florsheim had shut it down. (Later, Cape Shoe moved to another Cape Girardeau building.) Last week, Cape Shoe announced that it too was halting production. In a letter, Fishman said his business model "has proven impractical."

That model attempted to produce, with union labor and exacting standards, an American-made product that could compete with cheaper imported footwear.

Customers who purchased the Cape Shoe products gave high marks to the workmanship and quality of the shoes produced here. Cape Shoe employees took pride in what they were doing.

Fishman's effort to provide good jobs and good products was an interesting experiment. But the marketplace and realities of global competition did not sustain his dream.