OUR STORY
The History of Blankenheim
Finding a leather shoes labeled ‘made in Indonesia’ but branded for other country’s brand in a shop located in Deventer town square, the Netherlands, become the beginning of Blankenheim establishment. This experience turns out made Beny Sofara, the founder of Blankenheim have a desire of ‘vengeance’ to create a leather shoes brand that have the finest quality and can be sold in stores all around the world.
Upon his return to Indonesia, after finishing his master study in the Netherlands, Beny decided to start a shoe business in 2013, he chose the name “Blankenheim” for the brand, it is taken from a name of a street in Deventer where he lived during his study.
In a coincidence, a woman from Germany sent a message to Blankenheim, she told that her late great-grandfather named Henry Blankenheim was also a shoe artisan in the 1900s era. She was proud to see her family’s name become a name of a shoe brand.
Possessing a business in the shoe industry is not for nothing, carrying on a shoe business is like continuing his late father business who also ran a shoe business decades ago. When his parents involved in a fatal accident after they were taking some shoes order from Cibaduyut area, caused his father fainted for a moment, while his mother fell into a coma and unconscious for three days, after that accident both of them no longer continue the shoe business.
As fate would have it, Beny continues the business. For almost 8 years the business ran, now it starts expanding, their shoes has already go to many foreign countries, including the Netherlands the country where he studied.
From its modest workshop in the corner of Bandung city, Blankenheim committed to create a simple and minimalist leather shoe product for men that give top priority to the quality and high value. Blankenheim’s product mostly inspired form the European fashion style which is simple, minimalist and elegant.
Using only the high quality local material and re-empowering the local artisan who has lost their profession since the society lack interest in the local product, Blankenheim determined to be the part of local business that able to use local resources and can compete globally with brands from all over the world, just as his dream.
RAISED IN THE SOUTH
2013-Present
Our roots can be traced far beyond our origin, to the time-honored traditions of those who have gone before us. While the west would provide our rugged inspiration, the south also had a definitive role in our story. The place that bred our heritage through those who called it home.
We made our journey from the western wilderness of Colorado to North Carolina in search of the values, traditions, and history that inspired our brand. Our new home would provide the perfect backdrop to embody the spirit of our southern roots, with easy access to the Appalachian Mountains where we could remain connected with our rugged lifestyle. From our flagship store in the heart of Downtown Matthews, we would continue the work of crafting products that reflected our honored tradition as well as our rugged spirit.
ON OUR HORIZON.
Buffalo Jackson Trading Company is the story of the Rugged Gentleman™, a flesh and blood character defined by the values of grit, honesty, pride, and character. While we remain true to this vision, we look ahead at how we can take those values and further develop our brand.
One of our biggest leaps came in 2017, when we launched our first line of women’s products. While this was uncharted territory, it would prove to be a natural extension of our brand. With so many important women in our lives from our mothers, wives and daughters to our coworkers, neighbors and friends… we knew it was time we honored them by incorporating products they would love into our brand.
Within each of us, there is a longing to return from which we came. A call to discover the inherent wild we long to awaken. Through every product we create, through everyone who proudly wears the Buffalo Jackson name… we seek to honor that wild.