 WellcoWellco was founded in Waynesville, North Carolina in 1941. However the roots of the company go back three generations to the time when the grandfather of Wellco’s founders started the family’s first shoe factory in Germany during the nineteenth century, the family fled Germany in 1935 to escape Nazi persecution. In the 1930’s, the first practical method for molding and attaching a rubber sole or midsole directly to an upper in a single operation was developed and patented around the world by Wellco’s founders. Throughout its history, Wellco was specialized almost exclusively in making footwear by methods that represent further developments of this invention. Today , soles or midsoles may, in some cases be injected polyurethane, instead of vulcanized rubber, but the principal of creating a near-unbreakable bond to an upper in a molding process remains unchanged. In addition to developing and implementing this technology, Wellco has, throughout the years, made its specialized know-how and equipment available to other shoe manufacturers around the world through its subsidiary, Ro-Search Inc. As early as the 1950’s, Wellco began the task of convincing the US Army that its unique DMS (Direct Molded Sole) construction, was ideally suited for military combat boots. This resulted in the adoption of this method for the Army Hot Weather Boot (then known as the Viet Nam Boot) in 1964. This was followed shortly thereafter by the adoption of the DMS construction for the production of the US Army and Marine Corps general purpose all-leather boot. For a number of years thereafter US Military combat boots were made exclusively on Ro-Search-supplied molding equipment. Through the years, Wellco and Ro-Search ave participated in numerous further developments of combat footwear for the US Military. For instance, a Desert Boot was developed and adopted in 1991 to include features and improvements specified by General Schwarzkopf for Operation Desert Storm. The present generation of Combat boots, with direct-molded rubber base sole, a polyurethane midsole and a rugged high-traction rubber tread sole can be traced to a development contract awarded to RO-Search in 1995 by US Army Natick Laboratories. Similarly, the first Military blast-protective boots and over-boots were developed and produced by Wellco and RO-Search. Today, Wellco is engaged in contract with Natick to develop a modular temperature range from -60 degrees to 120 degrees. Wellco continues to maintain its headquarters, product development, distribution, warehousing, and some manufacturing operations, as well its RO-Search facilities, in Waynesvil, North Carolina, where the company was founded. In addition, the company added in 1956 a manufacturing plant in the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which is today the site of a great deal of Wellco’s footwear manufacturing operations. Products manufactured and/or marketed by Wellco have been available continuously since the 1940’s under the company’s various brand names, such as “Foamtreads,” Hi Pals,” and others. In excess of three thousand independent retailers, department stores, and other outlets have featured the Company’s products. Wellco’s products today for the Military, Tactical, and Industrial footwear markets largely incorporate the technology developed by the Company over many years t maximize comfort and flexibility, while retaining the ruggedness and long wear characteristics required by the wearers in the performance of their specialized duties.
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