Echuca-Moama has had its thong tree, something of a tourist mecca, since that first day long ago when some sad individual, having lost a thong most likely, nailed the useless remaining thong to a tree stump on the banks of the Murray in despair.
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But now the twin towns have taken that sad day and turned it into a celebration — because now Echuca-Moama has its own thong.
It was invented, manufactured, sold and mass marketed by the Echuca physiotherapist who conceived of a better thong, used his grandfather’s back shed as his laboratory and then took his prototype to the Moama market (and a stall on Hare St in front of Charles L King).
It proved such a smash hit, Daniel Jones is now taking his Archies to the global market — announcing his grand plans in Echuca-Moama this week.
At the thong tree.
They might seem something of an overnight success, but the Archies story stretches back a decade, to the days when Daniel was will working as a physiotherapist — where he was getting tired of helping people not helping themselves by wearing traditional thongs and paying the price for it.
Like most start-ups, Archies was slowly walking up a pretty steep learning curve, but it has paid off; Daniel’s design is now the most sought-after orthotic thong in Australia, the choice of thong for a throng of many of Australia’s elite athletes — and the company is now going global, quickly building a significant worldwide business.
Among the team of fans is newly appointed Archies brand ambassador Dusty Martin — AFL superstar, Brownlow medallist, Richmond premiership player (three times) and Norm Smith medallist (also three times).
“The way it came about was that we always saw him wearing the thongs on his Instagram feed, so we approached him through a mutual friend and asked him would he like to be involved with our brand on an official basis,” Daniel said.
“He jumped at the opportunity as he rarely has them off his feet.”
Dusty agreed.
“When Archies asked if I’d like to become a brand ambassador it was an easy decision,” he said.
“I’d already been wearing the thongs for years and loved them.
“I wear them everywhere; they are so comfortable and as they have arch support; they really good for your feet.
“They are honestly the most comfortable thongs I have ever worn in my life.”
And that, Daniel said, was what his vision, and Archies, are all about.
He said it didn’t matter whether you are wearing “thongs, jandles (shudder) or flip-flops” the problem was the same.
“As flat thongs are not the best choice of footwear for your feet, particularly for people who are already injured, I was recommending my patients wear orthotic thongs or runners,” Daniel said.
“However, it was really difficult to get anyone to take on that advice, as no-one wants to wear runners through summer; and at that time, the orthotic thongs that were available on the market were big, heavy and cumbersome, and there were certainly none I would have worn myself,” he said with a laugh.
“I felt quite hypocritical; I was making recommendations to my patients I would not follow myself. So, I thought, wouldn’t it be great if I could create a thong that looked like a ‘normal’ thong, but still had legitimate orthotic support in it.
“I researched further to see what was available and I couldn’t find anything like what I had in mind.
“I could not work out what I was missing. Why had someone not done this before?
“The more I worked as a physio, the more I would see the same problem presenting and I knew at that point there was a significant gap in the market.”
Daniel said he ummed and aahed for a few months about whether or not to pursue the idea while continuing his research, because at that stage, he had just finished a few years and enormous amount of work and money preparing to open his own physiotherapy practice.
Even his family said to stick with the physiotherapy — and maybe come back to the thongs ‘one day’.
“However, in my gut, I knew if I did not jump now, the opportunity would not be around forever; and started my initial prototypes in my nan and pop’s shed in 2011 (Pop, for the curious, was the legendary Essendon superstar Jack Jones — like Dusty Martin, a three-time premiership player),” Daniel said,.
But Dusty and Pop are just part of the footy connection anchoring Daniel and Archies to Echuca-Moama.
Daniel’s father Tony Jones is in the Goulburn Valley Football League team of the century; his uncle John Jones, who runs the Odd Captain Café, is in the Tongala team of the century and initially sold Archies to customers at the café. His sister Sarah is a high-profile Fox Sports presenter.
The Sheldon family — legends of Echuca football — has three family members working with Daniel in Archies (although Jack and Tom now play for Kyabram) and retired Carlton star Ken Sheldon is his uncle.
And let’s not forget Port Adelaide powerhouse Ollie Wines. He’s one of a swag of AFL stars shod in the orthotic thongs, along with players including Scott Pendlebury and Patrick Cripps.
Daniel said he remembered at the Echuca Hotel one night he was talking to Ollie Wines.
“He looked at me and said, ‘I’m glad you got Archies into the club (Port Adelaide), as I’m sick of all the boys stealing my pairs’,” Daniel said with a laugh.
Looking back to those nascent days, Daniel recalled after the success at Moama market the first Archies warehouse was in the twin towns (in a shed at his family’s home, where he had been based for five years so he could afford the development of his wonder thongs).
And his first full-time employee was his brother Tom.
“I was 27 when I started all this, making some basic concepts out of clay. However, it was quickly clear I was no ‘clay artist’ and I was never going to get the design I had in mind doing it this way,” Daniel said.
“By chance, just as I started to research this, I treated an industrial designer as a physio patient, and he confirmed I needed an industrial designer — fortunately one of my best mates had a friend who I also knew and who was an industrial designer in the automotive industry. This worked perfectly, as at that stage I had no money saved and was living hand to mouth, so designer Milly and I worked on the project after our day jobs for about six months, often well into the morning hours,” he said.
“We had the initial prototypes via 3D printing within six months after loads of back and forth; but if I thought that had been draining, getting the product right for manufacturing was where the hard stuff really started.
“I remember when I got my first samples, I was so excited I forgot to put the car in park and nearly ran straight up the back of the parked car in front of me — and those first samples were actually pretty terrible.
“The material was like cardboard and collapsed under pressure. They would shrink several sizes if you left them in the sun and they also broke really easily — but despite this, they were still super comfy and looked great, and I knew I had something worth pursuing.”
And the rest, as they say, was history. Archies today has stockists in virtually every town in Australia; Archies are de rigueur with the sporting smart set and Archies are now being exported to the United States (where Daniel hopes to be in more than 1000 outlets by Christmas) and making inroads into the United Kingdom.
The world, to maintain the beach and ocean theme, is Archies’ oyster and this little Echuca-Moama idea has moved from the Moama market to the world stage.