Mellow Walk

Mellow Walk was founded in Toronto in 1993 by Aldo Violi and Gino Mellozzi as Chaussures Mellow Walk Footwear Inc. and was described as family run by the Violi family as of 2016. The vendor's own history page states that Oliberte added Mellow Walk Safety to its family of brands in September 2022. Corporations Canada's federal registry lists Tal Dehtiar of Oakville, Ontario as the sole director of Oliberte Limited, which discontinued federally in July 2022 to continue under Ontario law. The Ontario Business Registry, which would hold the current ownership record, blocked automated access, so current ownership is reported rather than verified, though every entity and person found in the trail is Ontario based.

• Rob Violi » Mellow Walk vendor_statement “Mellow Walk is a family-run company”
• Mellow Walk Safety - Handcrafted Comfort and Safety vendor_statement “OLIBERTE ADDS MELLOW WALK SAFETY TO THE FAMILY OF BRANDS”
• Federal corporation information - 1114964-4 - Online Filing Centre - Corporations Canada - Corporations - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada registry “Certificate of Discontinuance 2022-07-12 Importing jurisdiction: Ontario”
• Federal corporation information - 712007-9 - Online Filing Centre - Corporations Canada - Corporations - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada registry “TAL DEHTIAR 2458 WOBURN CRESCENT OAKVILLE ON L6L 5E9 Canada”

The current FAQ states that Mellow Walk makes its footwear at its own factory in Toronto, calling it one of the last fully integrated footwear factories in Canada. That matches a 2016 profile in which the company's then president described controlling production in the same Toronto plant that housed its head office, and a 2014 post describing leather cutting and stitching done in house by named staff.

• Mellow Walk Safety - Handcrafted Comfort and Safety vendor_statement “Mellow Walk makes its footwear at its company owned footwear factory in Toronto, Canada. We operate one of the last fully integrated footwear factories in Canada.”
• Andrew Violi » Mellow Walk vendor_statement “We have the means of production right here in Toronto.”
• Leather Cutting: Step one in a great pair of safety shoes » Mellow Walk vendor_statement “it takes 40 pairs of hands to make one pair of our comfort safety shoes”

The vendor's FAQ describes its footwear factory as company owned and located in Toronto, and calls it one of the last fully integrated footwear factories in the country, implying design, cutting, and assembly staff work on site there. The parent group's registered office is in Oakville, Ontario, a legal address rather than a second production site, and no evidence points to staff working outside the Toronto area.

• Mellow Walk Safety - Handcrafted Comfort and Safety vendor_statement “Mellow Walk makes its footwear at its company owned footwear factory in Toronto, Canada.”
• Federal corporation information - 1114964-4 - Online Filing Centre - Corporations Canada - Corporations - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada registry “1156 Speers Road, Unit 1 Oakville ON L6L 2X4 Canada”

The current FAQ says components are sourced from suppliers in North America when possible and otherwise from Europe, and that its leather is full grain from unnamed gold rated eco-tanneries. A 2014 supplier profile named those tanneries as Le Farc of Leon, Mexico, plus partners in Italy and Brazil, and described an Italian made leather cutting machine. Combining the current, vague statement with that decade old detail, the split across Canada, the US, the EU, and Mexico or Brazil is an estimate rather than a published figure.

• Mellow Walk Safety - Handcrafted Comfort and Safety vendor_statement “We do source many of the components in our footwear from suppliers located within North America, and when not possible from Europe”
• Blog » Quality leathers start with a gold rated tannery » Mellow Walk vendor_statement “we have partnered with the gold-rated Le Farc tannery for the leather used in our safety shoes”
• Leather Cutting: Step one in a great pair of safety shoes » Mellow Walk vendor_statement “hides of leather—carefully sourced from responsible tanneries in Mexico, Italy and Brazil”