Royal Steam Shoe Factory A.H. van Schijndel
Toon van Schijndel learned the shoemaking trade in Brouwers' workshop. During his apprenticeship, the Franco-German war broke out and changed...
Toon van Schijndel learned the shoemaking trade in Brouwers' workshop. During his apprenticeship, the Franco-German war broke out and the shoe industry turned into a very lucrative trade. Therefore, in 1873 Toon decided to establish his own shoemaking shop. In 1889, he had to move to another location due to lack of space. With the support of his father, he was able to take over a newly built complex. In this new complex there was no mechanization yet, but Toon was familiar with the possibilities offered by mechanization, but it was not yet applied in the shoe industry of the Langstraat. In 1895 the competition of machine-made footwear from abroad became so great that Toon interested his brother-in-law Herman KIütgen as a financier to introduce mechanization. After pointing out that a manufacturer in 's-Hertogenbosch had started with the Goodyear system and what its possibilities were, and with support his oldest brother Huibert, Klütgen was finally willing to give Toon a loan, which allowed Toon to build a new factory at 115 Stationsstraat, which opened in 1900. The company switched to machine production in that year, according to the Goodyear system. In 1906 expansion of this factory followed and in 1909 they obtained the designation 'Royal'. A year later a rebuilding to five floors followed and Meulkens from Waalwijk was the architect.
