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Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 1, 2023

The Roots Canada Story: A Brief History

Roots Canada was founded in Toronto on August 15, 1973 by Michael Budman and Don Green. They decided to create a company with a Canadian feel based on a summer camp that they had attended as children in Ontario's Algonquin Park. The first item that they sold from their first store in Toronto was a shoe. It was commonly known as the Earth Shoe and officially called the Roots Negative Heel Shoe.

The company was successful right from that very first day when they sold seven pair of the shoe. Intended as a part-time business, they were so successful that they opened more than thirty stores in the first year. Dan Ackroyd and Gilda Radner were there helping in the store from the very beginning. The venture was meant to be, according to a CBC video, "a celebration of what makes us Canadian" although the founders were American.

From CBC News, comes this fascinating 8-minute look at the story of Roots Canada. The 2014 video does a fine job of documenting the story but it is noteworthy that since then, the iconic Canadian company has been sold and is now a publicly held brand.

ROOTS COMPANY AND POLICIES

Not all of Roots merchandise is manufactured in Canada but Roots does demand that its merchandise be excellent. It has a well-respected reputation to maintain and strives to uphold that reputation. Roots built this reputation in the past by creating extremely successful Olympic collections and merchandise for celebrities, concerts, cultural events and movies.

Roots created the Canadian Olympic Team's outfits from 1998 to 2004 and has also done so for Great Britain, the United States and Barbados. Remember the 1998 poor boy or newsboy-style hats worn by the Canadian Olympic team in 1998? Roots sold 500,000 of them that year and those Olympic pieces are still sought after today.

The picture shown above is of the Roots' poorboy or beret-style hat from the Olympics in Nagano, Japan in 1998. The picture is used here with permission and currently available in the eBay store of Jav Treasures by clicking right here.

If it is no longer available in Jav's store, you can click here to see the selection of Roots' Olympic-themed Poorboy hats that are available now.

ROOTS CODE OF CONDUCT

Roots products are made in Canada, the United States, South Asia, Asia and South America only using reputable companies and suppliers who adhere to the Roots Code of Conduct. Factories must provide working conditions meeting health, safety and labor standards; respect for all workers, not use child or forced labor, minimize the impact on the environment and avoid too much packaging in shipping, have inspections by independent auditors and not have any discrimination based on gender, race, nationality and religion.

ROOTS PRODUCTS

Roots makes wonderful clothing and fabulous leather products. They now sell a wonderful range of items including but not limited to genuine leather shoes, jackets, bags, belts and luggage; sports and yoga wear including t-shirts and sweatshirts for men, women and children; watches; and home items that have included furniture, linen, towels and accessories.

I do not mind paying a little more for a quality Canadian style that lasts. How about you?

See you next time

on Review This Reviews!

Brenda

Thursday, July 6, 2023

Roots Canada Leather

Roots Canada Ltd. is a Canadian company that sells quality leather bags and accessories. Their products are loved by me and by many who value quality merchandise with a Canadian connection.

On their blog, Roots says:

"We're proud of the 180 makers and more than 45 years of history of handcrafting leather goods at our factory in Toronto, Ontario."

I think that the fact that they still make the bags in Canada is amazing particularly in a time when so much of what we buy is not made in North America.

This page is a simple review of a few fabulous Roots products.

Celebrities have long since loved Roots Canada. If you have Roots pieces in your wardrobe, you will be in the company of such noted celebrities as Wayne Gretzky, Jason Priestley, Robbie Robertson, Elvis Stojko, Ross Rebagliati, the Back Street Boys, the Moffats, Jake, Matt Damon, Minnie Driver, Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg, David Beckham, Natasha Bedingfield, Rupert Grint, Will Ferrell, Paris Hilton, Heidi Klum, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Jean Chretien, The Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team, Tori Spelling, Ashley Tisdale, King Charles II, Princes William and Harry, Sarah McLachlan, James Cameron and, of course, the amazing Canadian Olympic athletes.

CROSSBODY BAG

Roots Canada Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games Leather Pouch or Bag

I love this little light brown Roots crossbody bag or pouch that celebrates the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games. Measuring just six inches by four inches by one inch in size with a 24 inch drop, it is perfect for slipping your small cell phone and credit card into. It's available from eBay seller Lunasmoon and can be found by clicking right here.

VARSITY JACKET

The vintage Roots coat shown above is representative of the many varsity-style leather and wool jackets that Roots has produced over the years. This one is a men's extra large Olympic jacket from the 2002 winter Salt Lake City Olympics and the Canadian team. It can be found from eBay seller Luxifi by clicking right here.

WEEKENDER OR GYM BAG

Finally, I share this handsome and rare Roots Canada red pebbled leather gym or weekend bag. Also produced for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002, it is a very handsome bag with details that include punch-needle embroidery, bottom metal studs, double-strap leather handles, double zipper closure and waterproof interior. It measures 19 inches long by 6 1/2 inches wide by 11 inches tall with handles that drop 10 inches. It can be found in Curations by Jonathan's shop on eBay by clicking right here.

When talking about his Roots' 72-hour bag, Wayne Gretzky said, "It is the best weekender bag I've ever traveled with." Do you think this could have been the bag that Gretzky travelled with?

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Roots makes handsome, top-quality leather pieces. If you own Roots leather, you already know of that quality. If not, you are in for a treat. Click here to see all of the Roots Canada leather items for sale on eBay.

See you

next time!

Brenda

Treasures By Brenda

Thursday, July 2, 2020

Fast Girls - Book Review

Order Fast Girls Today

Three fast girls. Three very different pathways to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Three: the number of seconds between "get set" and blasting off the starting line into your future. Three young women running, for all they are worth, for their lives.

Fast Girls is historical fiction that introduces us to real women who broke world records, achieved Olympic gold, rose above rampant racism, sexism, and the societal norms meant to keep them off the track... out of the running for their dreams... out of their place in history.

Betty Robinson. Louise Stokes. Helen Stephens. Remember their names. These fast girls will teach us much that goes far beyond 100 meters. From them, we will gain the perspective and insight that becomes a kind of second wind, which is what you need when you hit the wall during a race, or in the midst of dealing with life's hard challenges.

Each fast girl had to rise above tremendous obstacles to become who she was destined to be. Take Betty Robinson, for starters. As the first American woman to achieve Olympic gold, at the very first Olympics that included female athletes (Amsterdam, 1928), it seemed the "Golden Girl" had it made. Not long afterwards, Robinson was involved in a near-fatal plane crash that left her body wrecked beyond hope of any kind of recovery, or any return to her former glory. Everyone counted her out. Everyone, that is, except Betty herself. What she does with her brokenness is what will define her greatness.

Next up, Louise Stokes. As a member of the first integrated Olympic team, Stokes, a black athlete, will face the kind of abuses no one deserves, or should ever experience. Her treatment, how she copes with it, and where it leads, even to today's Black Lives Matter movement, is not just a lesson for the history books. It is living history. It matters as much right now as it did back in 1932.

Which brings us to Helen Stephens. Stephens, a misfit, unwanted by her father, mocked and bullied by her childhood peers, so different, so confused about her identity, so incredibly talented. What will become of Helen? Who will see her immense promise and provide a means for her to leave the bleak, hardscrabble existence of her youth?

Fast Girls is about so much more than blazing speed. Even though these women, at their peak, were the fastest women in the world, what mattered, and still matters, is what they did with their enormous capacity for turning tragedies into personal triumph. Their disappointments and losses, perhaps even more than their triumphs, are what make for compelling reading.

This is a book for the history buff, the athlete, the coach, the teacher, the enthusiastic spectator, the one who cares about the worthiness, and enormous value, of every single person who asks only to be allowed the opportunity to fly down that straightaway toward the achievement of a dream... toward the fulfillment of personal destiny.

*I received an ARC of Fast Girls from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I wish to thank the author, Elise Hooper, and her publisher, HarperCollins, for this opportunity.

**You may also wish to check out my five-star review of Elise Hooper's fabulous book Learning to See.

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