213. Brand Stories: GREGG SHOES, 1937

GREGG SHOES, 1955 Print Ad

The very popular shoes with a reputation for long-lasting durability and excellent craftsmanship were firs made in 1937, by couple Julio Gregorio and Francisca Garcia. Gregorio, a native of Marikina—the country’s shoe center—gave  his name to his creation—GREGG Shoes---that would find a niche in the large school shoes market.

He had started with American Hike Shoe Factory, making patterns for the American-owned shoe line, founded by United States Shoe Co. owner,  R.A. McGrath, a former soldier. At the same time, he was also a teacher. The factory would be razed to the ground during the War in 1941, but Gregorio had the sense to buy the shoe-making machines from McGrath’s widow ( McGrath died at age 68 on 25 March 1935) through a bank loan, and keep them safe in hiding, until the hostilities ended.

 

GREGG MEN'S SHOES, 1953

By then, the Gregorios had moved to San Juan, where he located his home, his main shoe store and factory. He began making his GREGG Shoes and gained enough patronage to warrant the setting up of shops along Mabini St., and in Baguio City.

A small shoe store owner by the name of Henry Sy once approached him to ask if he could supply his fledgling shops with his well-known GREGG Shoes.  The gracious Gregorio gave him Sy full support and began supplying his shop that would become the country’s giant SM retail chain.

 

LADIES' SHOES by Gregg Shoe Co., 1953

GREGG Shoes made shoes for everyone, of all ages—including ladies’ shoes, but these have since been discontinued in 1993. But it still the school shoes that comes top-of- mind when the GREGG brand name is mentioned. From the 50s through the 70s, GREGG Shoes shod the feet of hundreds of thousands of Filipino schoolers.

The shoe business still flourishes today, thanks to two of Gregorio’s granddaughters, Christine Golez and Lilia Almario, who have taken the shoemaking mantle of their lolo Julio. Saved for the N. Domingo store, all the GREGG Shoes outlets have closed shops. The SM Department Stores still carry the line, in gratitude for the founder whose act of kindness propelled the once-humble Shoemart store to great heights never before imagined.

SOURCES:

Lila Almario; The Shoe Princess: https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/fashion-and-beauty/2003/03/26/200378/lifestyle

Thanks to Isidra Reyes for her Gregg Shoes FB article.

Constantino, Renato. A History of the Philippines, from the Spanish Colonization to the Second World War, Monthly Review Press, NY and London