All Good Things Come in Threes

Tri as/Pf äffi kon . Shoes, custom-made cowboy boots, and accessories form the trinity (in Latin: trias) on which the boutique of Markus Keller and Claudia Rindlisbacher has based its success despite the fact that the business is not located in a prominent area.

Text: Dörte Welti. Photos: Trias Pfäffikon lies at the top end of Lake Zurich, approximately 35 kilometres away from the bustling fashion metropolis Zurich. The inhabitants of Zurich tend to consider this too far away to bother. However, those who do come up to acquire exclusive fashion, shoes, and accessories know why they do bother, especially as customers can find what they can’t get anywhere else.

Down-To-Earth Decisions

“For a business as small as ours, the rent in Zurich is quite simply unaffordable”, Markus Keller explains while talking about the opening in Pfäffikon in 2007. “In addition, we were already running a showroom close by.” The two fashion enthusiasts had something to offer. Markus Keller has always been a foot specialist. “It’s crazy that people give so little quality to the part of their bodies that keeps them going during the day and their entire life”, he muses. The man certainly knows what he’s talking about. His career basically began on foot. Markus Keller’s first job concerned ski boots. In the 1980s, ski boots were a big thing in the ski racing industry, but fairly unattractive to the mass market. As a freelance commercial traveller for ski boots, he

One heart & two shops - Markus Keller is a fashion retailer through and through, while Claudia Rindlisbacher continues to run her real estate business alongside the boutique. almost single-handedly established the entire market for the product and his reputation as a foot specialist led to the golden opportunity to enter an agency that was experiencing the hype of its life with Timberland and Sebago shoes, the always trendy marine footwear brands. A little later Markus Keller encountered Allen Edmonds, which has the motto “The Great American Shoe Company”. This is when the penny dropped. High-end and partly welted shoes are big business.

Dedication to Quality

The location in Pfäffikon was initially solely dedicated to shoes and accessories. Markus Keller is still the distributor of Allen Edmonds and has since added Fratelli Borgioli - yet another luxury footwear brand - to his portfolio. When traders announce themselves, the boutique is partially cleared and simply transformed into a showroom. So what about the customers? “Our customers come from far afield”, state Markus Keller and Claudia Rindlisbacher. “Not least because we have - for Swiss standards - compelling arguments such as direct motorway access and parking spaces in front of the door.” However, the customers no longer only come for the shoes. A shared desire for handmade things, enthusiasm for crafts, and passion for sustainable products have led to Markus Keller and Claudia Rindlisbacher adding more and more fashion items to their product range. The two go travelling whenever possible. They don’t travel as a leisure activity, but to visit all their suppliers. Actually, they have only been on one proper holiday in the seven years since opening their store. “We want to know exactly which leather is used for our handmade cowboy boots”, the couple explains. “That’s why we travelled to Texas and watched how they specifically select the leather for our order.” The retail prices for the boots in question are in the four digit price range. Such prices need to be transparently explained - and with a clear conscience - to the customers, who repay such dedication with loyalty.

No Customer Betrayal

“We sell quality”, Markus Keller muses. “I am not capable of anything else.” However, he is quite good at representing values such as never staging a sale in the same season. He believes such a move would betray both the customer and the product. And Markus Keller has an understanding of geometry too. “High heels need a specific geometry, otherwise they simply don’t work”, the specialist says. Women who complain about aching feet after two or three hours in pumps may want to travel to Pfäffikon to find out more.

Bo uti que Trias

Huobstrasse 10, 8808 Pfäffikon/Switzerland www.boutique-trias.ch Opening: February 2007 Owners: Markus Keller, Claudia Rindlisbacher Employees: 2 Sales area: 300 sqm Brands for women: 0039 Italy, 1947 andreas, 7 for all Mankind, Artigiano, Canada Goose, Exit Brooklyn, Handstich, Hemisphere, John Smedley, Meindl, Nationality, Oleana, Pamela Henson, Reptiles House, Uli Schneider, Wallmann, Zimmerli Brands for men: AD.M, Canada Goose, Eton, Handstich, Jacob Cohen, John Smedley, Meindl, Nationality, Reptiles House, Tardini, Silverking Shoe brands: Allen Edmonds, Baldinini, Cesare Paciotti, Francesco Benigno, Fratelli Borgioli, Ilse Jacobson, John Grey, Pura Lopez, Stallion, Swims

Multi-talented - The room with the large table is trans- formed into a showroom when customers come to order shoes. The fashion items are removed and replaced with high-end shoes. Now that’s truly flexible.

Stylistically confident - The customers who travel here have no interest in rushing in and out of the shop. They take their time and like chilling out in the comfortable couch lounge.