Founder Jay Longley | ||
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Founded 1974, Laguna Beach, California, United States | ||
Rainbow sandals product demo
Rainbow Sandals Inc. was established in 1974 in Laguna Beach, California by Jay "Sparky" Longley and is currently based out of San Clemente, California. The company specializes in men's and women's leather, hemp, and rubber flip-flops. Not made in the USA.
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When Longley first started making sandals, he was assembling 15 pairs per day out of leather and Malaysian rubber in the garage of his Laguna Beach home. He relocated to San Clemente in 1975 and began manufacturing 1,200 pairs of sandals a day. Since 2002, Longley had to move 75% of production to China because of a solvent in the glue he makes. Longley had to install a catalytic oxidizer at his San Clemente factory that scrubs all the volatile organic compounds (VOC) out of the glue before it's emitted into the air. He is legally only allowed to make 1,000 pairs per day in San Clemente. In China, they use a VOC-Free glue. Longley cannot use the VOC-Free glue in California because it is too combustable under the Fire Code. In addition, Longley manufactures sandals in San Clemente, California and in China.