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Vibram Sole Factor is coming to Austin!

As part of Vibram’s ACL presence in 2018, the Sole Factor van will be coming to Austin. Sole Factor’s mobile cobblers can upgrade a pair of your favorite shoes for better performance and personalized style. How so? The cobblers will replace soles on a pair of shoes with new Vibram soles. Do you have a beloved pair of hiking boots, running shoes, sandals, trail runners, sneakers or even dress shoes that you’d like to revive so you can spend more time together? This is your chance to extend their life and benefit HAAM, the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, at the same time.  Here’s how it works.

Starting on October 6th and running through October 9th, at our Austin North Lamar store, the Sole Factor cobblers will be able to resole approximately 10 to 15 pairs of shoes per day. The day begins at 10 am so get in line early. The cobblers can advise you on the best type of soles for your shoes, and you can choose a color or color combination. The cost is $25 with 100% of the funds raised going to HAAM. Your shoes will have to stay overnight for the glue to dry completely, so be sure you can pick them up the following day. Sole Factor will be open until 4 pm. To allow as many people as possible to take part, there will be a limit of one pair of shoes, per person for the Sole Factor event.

Sole Factor benefits HAAM. The organization was founded in 2005 to provide affordable healthcare for Austin’s low income, uninsured, working musicians with a focus on prevention and wellness. Many Austin musicians are self-employed and have no access to health insurance or basic health care. They often work multiple jobs and struggle to pay for food, clothing and shelter, with nothing left for health care.

To date, HAAM has helped almost 5000 musicians access healthcare, including routine dental work, doctor visits and prescriptions, psychiatric counseling sessions, eye exams, out-patient procedures, specialist referrals, hearing screenings and more. HAAM is helping Austin maintain its reputation as a live music capital despite rising housing and healthcare costs. 

You may still have time to enter the Vibram drawing for two pairs of three day passes for the second weekend of ACL, October 12th – 14th. You can enter by trying on a pair of Vibram’s Furoshiki or FiveFinger shoes at either of our Austin stores between September 17th and October 7th. When you try on a pair, you’ll receive an entry blank for the drawing. To enter, you need to be 18 or older; you cannot have won a prize from Whole Earth in the past six months; entries are limited to one entry per person per store, and the winners will need to pick up their tickets at our North Lamar store on October 9th. The winners will be notified on October 8th.

We want to give a big Texas thank you to Vibram for their fun contributions to this year’s ACL festivities – the ACL ticket giveaway and the Sole Factor visit. We hope you’ll stop by our Austin stores to enter the drawing or visit North Lamar and revive those favorite shoes with a vibrant Vibram sole.