About Us

We’re here for the American workforce. To us that means helping keep workers safe, comfortable and focused on the day ahead with our no-BS, custom safety footwear solutions. We believe in keeping things as straightforward as possible. No fine print. No hassle. Just simple corporate shoe programs and high-quality safety footwear that help reduce workplace injuries and take safety managers out of the shoe business.

OUR STORY

We’ve been family-owned and operated since our beginning over 40 years ago, and we’re proud of that fact. Our family-first culture has enabled us to stay nimble and focused on customer service rather than quarterly earnings calls. That’s how we’ve built our reputation for seeing each customer as an individual, not a number. Our results? Customers get real solutions for their unique needs, and we continually see huge drops in injury rates, which means fewer workers’ comp claims and a much healthier bottom line.

DISCOVER SAF-GARD SHOE PROGRAMS

Husband and wife team Bob and Ann Kubis founded Saf-Gard^® in 1980 offering retail, Mobile Shoe Store, in-plant consignment and mail order options. Bob went on the road securing accounts and running the Mobile Shoe Stores himself. Meanwhile, Ann held down the fort by shipping mail orders, running the retail store, placing orders with suppliers, invoicing customers and balancing the books.
At the very beginning of this decade, what began as a 2-person team grew to 14 with three Mobile Shoe Stores. Among the newest team members were Jeff, Gregg and Patrick Kubis, the three sons of our founders. Today, the brothers lead the company. By the end of the 90s, Saf-Gard^® purchased the HYTEST Atlantic distributorship in Claymont, Delaware and opened retail locations in Virginia, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
We acquired several other safety footwear companies including Burroughs Safety Shoe, adding new teammates and 2 new NC stores in Charlotte and Research Triangle Park. We continued expansion through other acquisitions like Maryland Industrial Shoe and New England Safety Shoe, strengthening our market farther north. One of the most exciting events of this period was the launch (change launching to launch) of our sister company SR Max^®, which focuses on slip-resistant footwear.
We experienced considerable growth in the 2010s. The Kata Safety Shoe acquisition solidified our North Carolina reach and allowed us to keep expanding into HYTEST territories. The Vulcan acquisition added several employees and extended our reach into Georgia and South Carolina. And the Michigan Industrial Shoe acquisition added employees, 12 Mobile Shoe Stores and 6 retail stores
Operating as an essential business during the Covid-19 pandemic, we expanded into Indiana, adding one new retail store. We later acquired Lehigh Valley Safety Shoes, expanding our northeastern reach, and Guard Your Dogs, taking us farther into Georgia territories. We also doubled our New England footprint and added prescription safety eyewear to our lineup when we acquired Industrial Protection Products (IPP). We opened new stores in Virginia and Ohio, bringing us to more than 35 retail locations in total by the end of 2023. With the acquisition of Safer Safety, we started 2024 by expanding our reach to the UK.

SAF-GARD^® TODAY

35+ Retail
Stores

70+ Mobile
Shoe Stores

70+
Brands

400+
Employees

1,275+
Styles

OUR IMPACT

When there’s an opportunity to make a difference, you take it. Those are the words we live by. Whether we’re talking about partnering with organizations and brands that focus on making the world a better place or creating our own in-house initiatives, giving back is at the core of what we do.

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MEET OUR LEADERS