N E W S R E L E A S E	
		
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE		

Contact: Don Rinaldi, SSIA President, petronioshoeproducts@aol.com
History Was Made As Croft Achieves National Recognition in SSIA’s Silver Cup Contest For A Second Time
BEL AIR, MD – History was made on July 16,2011 as Barry Croft of Shoe Savers in Houston, Texas was  honored by his peers and awarded the International Grand Silver Cup in the Shoe Service Institute of America’s 2011 Silver Cup Contest, the second time he has received the shoe repair industry’s most prestigious award for craftsmanship. He is the only person in the 70 year history of the contest to have ever won twice. This highly coveted award has been compared to an Oscar and is the Holy Grail of the shoe repair industry. Croft received his award at the 107th Annual Shoe Service Convention, July 16, 2011 in St. Petersburg, Florida. 
Croft was chosen for recognition by his peers on the basis of his workmanship. To enter the contest, Croft submitted two pairs of men’s shoes. One shoe from each pair was repaired -- one with a full sole and heel, the other with a half sole and heel. The repaired shoes were then refinished to look like new.
“One of the principal benefits of shoe repair is that consumers can have their shoes repaired to look like new, but for a fraction of the cost of new shoes,” says SSIA President Don Rinaldi. “The purpose of the Silver Cup Contest is to recognize craftsmen such as Barry Croft who maximize that benefit and set the standards for our industry.” 
Rinaldi continued to say that the benefits shoe repair offers go well beyond the cost savings. There are the physical benefits that a well maintained, high quality pair of shoes brings. With the cost of today’s footwear, maintaining them is an absolute necessity.
“All of these benefits start with superior craftsmanship,” he says. “That is why craftsmen such as Barry Croft are so important.” Rinaldi goes on to say that” A master craftsman such as Croft comes along only once in a generation”.Judging for the contest took place in May at the New Jersey offices of Petronio Shoe Products Corporation. Three master craftsmen with decades of shoe repair experience served as judges. The judges compared the repaired shoes to their unrepaired mates and evaluated the entries based on how well Croft had restored them to their original, factory condition. This year Croft chose a pair of John Lobb Prestige laceup shoes. Jim McFarland, one of the three judges stated that in all of the years he has been a judge, he has never SSIA SILVER CUP PRESS RELEASE - PAGE 2
seen shoes restored to such near perfection. “Barry is the most passionate craftsman I have ever met. He is very detail oriented and it shows in each and every job he does” he says.He goes on saying that “Barry takes shoe repair to a whole different level than your average shop. He is more of an artist than a repairman”.

The International Grand Silver Cup Contest  is a  competition dedicated to excellence in shoe repairing and is sponsored by the Shoe Service Institute of America. The SSIA is a 107-year-old organization comprised of retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers of shoe repair and shoe and foot care products and services. For more information, visit www.ssia.info.

                                                         SHOE SERVICE INSTITUTE OF AMERICA
                       305 Huntsman Ct. • Bel Air, MD 21015 • (410) 569-3425 • www.ssia.