Meet Gilles Vanpoucke | Co-Founder Fritz ‘n Chewy

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gilles Vanpoucke and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gilles, every day, we about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
My mom passed down her love for footwear to me as a young kid. I was raised between Italian made design shoes and German made comfortable boots in my mom’s shoe store back in Belgium. I knew I always wanted to do something with footwear because of that and also as an homage to my mom (hence the tattoo of a shoe on my arm). It was around four five ago when Ben Chan (Co-founder of Fritz ‘n Chewy) and I along with our pups were having a few beers on the Hermosa Beach Pier when his love for socks and my love for footwear in general came up. His idea was to create socks with modern colorful designs for the young professional, as most of the socks currently have either very boring or “goofy” designs. He even already designed some socks, which he shared with me that evening as well, right there and then we decided to start our own sock company but only if we also could do something about dogs in need. After trying to find a link between socks and dogs for a while to support our marketing story, we realized that a link isn’t always needed if you are dedicated to make a difference in both topics. We want to make the world better, one foot at a time and one dog at a time!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
During the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve also tried to do our part. We’ve started various campaigns, which included donations of socks to health care and essential workers as well as money donations to the LA Food Bank on top of our donations towards rescue organizations. I’m also proud of our BE PROUD. BE BOLD. BE YOURSELF campaign, which includes our rainbow socks, to support the LGBTQIA community.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
For me, Los Angeles is all about diversity and that’s exactly what I would like to show him. In the morning I would take him to the beach for an early swim (the best way to start the day energized!) followed by visiting my favorite breakfast burrito place Hermosa Mexican Cuisine in Hermosa Beach. After shopping some of the great stores in the South Bay, we would get some sushi at Sushi Chitose in Redondo Beach, which is my go to spot for sushi in all of Los Angeles! My perfect day would also include a LAFC home game with it’s amazing stadium and atmosphere, but not before we have some pre drinks at Common Space Brewery (located in Hawthorne) which are the best beers in Los Angeles (As a Belgian, I should know what I’m talking about…). After the LAFC win, we may want visit one of the downtown rooftops and a day in Los Angeles isn’t complete without a late grub! This would be either at Genwa Korean BBQ or at Shin-Sen-Gumi Hakata Ramen!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We’ve been pushing our sales through social media campaigns which direct buyers to our online shop but our main sales points are the local markets throughout SoCal, like Unique Markets or Renegade. These markets are a great tool for startups like us, it’s fair to say that without these organizations and the people behind them, we wouldn’t be where we are today… This past challenging holiday period, we also got the opportunity to work together with Sonja Rasula’s (founder of the Unique Markets) new project: Care Package.

Website: www.fritznchewy.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fritznchewy

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilles-vanpoucke-56247244/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fritznchewy

Image Credits
Gilles Vanpoucke Ben Chan