The story behind the Coronavirus mismatched socks
Who knew one pair of socks could have such a profound impact!
Since the middle of March, we’ve all seen Canada and the greater world crumble in devastation as front-line workers work tirelessly to find some relief from the adversity caused by COVID-19. Now into May, and as the country starts to slowly reopen, the full impact hasn't yet been felt.
Back in March, in an effort to slow the burn and flatten the curve, governments ordered the world to stay home and jump on the #socialdistancing bandwagon asap. This was inevitable, but it left many local small businesses (like ourselves) in a state of shock. We went from being a thriving small businesses, to a brand new reality with unknown outcomes and consequences.
Here at the Friday Sock Co HQ we had some red flags pop up almost immediately. For starters, we had already felt the tension brewing, as we communicated with our Italian counterparts and heard first-hand how bad things were getting in their country. As they went on full-lock down and our factories lost their employees, the families who run them were grateful for the orders that we continued to place. Despite the circumstances, they were determined to keep the factories running as long as they could manage it themselves (the perks of working with like-minded family-run businesses). We just had to be flexible on yarn colours as the suppliers had stopped moving goods.
Secondly, as most of you also know, we moved Friday’s HQ from a 1500 square foot warehouse to 7000 square feet a week before everything broke loose here in Canada. Cool, cool, cool - great timing! Not great timing...
So, we decided to shift our mindset and find a way to be a part of the solution, rather than focusing on the problem. We weren’t the only ones feeling the economic effects of this tragic pandemic, so we began to get creative to find ways that our little sock co could make a difference and build up the areas of the community that needed help the most.
We decided to create a Pandemic inspired sock design and sell it as a pre-sale. The irony that hand sanitizer and toilet paper had become coveted essentials made the design an easy way to shed a little light on the situation while also doing good. We thought about who might be the most vulnerable and forgotten, and realized it would be people who needed to access the basic necessities. Individuals who already were accessing the food bank, as well as the people who would be in the months to come. We made the very easy decision to get these socks online and give 100% of the profit to Canadian Food Banks.
To each and every one of you who bought a pair (or multiple) of our Coronavirus socks, we want to say a huge thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are immensely grateful for our incredible mismatched sock community.
Friday Sock Co was built on the idea that we're all a little different, but also the same. Your purchase of these socks has not only continued to help our small business through this tragic time, but also kept a small family-owned factory in Italy running during a nation-wide lockdown. We aren’t kidding, the owner of the factory made these socks. And when he ran out of yarn, he sourced more some from another small producer in the area, hence the very slight difference in shades between the men and women’s sizes. They also have enabled us to help our community and beyond through a donation of $41,771.00. To be in a position to help people who may be struggling... To see the community rally together behind a cause... I'm not crying, you're crying!
From the bottom of our hearts. Thank you. You guys are awesome.
Blog written by Kristy from Pedestrian Agency.