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October 07, 2005
SAS Factory
Earlier this week we went on a tour of the SAS Factory. SAS stands for San Antonio Shoes.
In the past, we have seen some of the more touristy factories, including Ben & Jerry's, Hershey Chocolate and Vermont Teddy Bear, but this was a real working factory. The warehouses where most of the assemby is done had not been redesigned for the tourist's eye at all. There was no little filmstrip about the history of the company and our tour guide didn't follow some cheesy script. She simply took us from station to station and explained each shoe making process, while we watched an employee actually do it. We got to see the whole process of the shoe being made- from the big piece of cow hide to the quality inspection in the end.
The actual tour was the perfect amount of time and there was enough action to hold Henry and Theo's attention. But I really think they enjoyed riding the shuttle bus around the factory grounds more. And the best part: SAS has a shoe store on the grounds designed to look like an old-time general store. They had a soda counter where we bought popcorn, cokes and cookies for a dime each. They even gave us a goody bags with pencils and rulers. What a great field trip!
Posted by Julee at October 7, 2005 06:56 AM