"How is the local, artisanal shoe maker going to compete with the chinese shoes that are now in the market?" In ten years, yes. It might be hard for the local

"How is the local, artisanal shoe maker going to compete with the chinese shoes that are now in the market?" In ten years, yes. It might be hard for the local shoe maker to compete. But I am talking about today. If today the local shoe store owner woke up and his entire neighborhood was wearing free shoes, what type of effect does it have on his business? Also by dropping 10,000 shoes into a country they bypassing the local market vendors who would normally supply these families shoes. I can only speak to Cambodia, but looking at their giving report, they do send shoes here. The other issue is culture, Cambodians don't typically wear western shoes and the TOMS shoes are all fabric. Most Cambodians wear sandals or flip-flops, something that can handle the water. The shoes they are dropping here don't seem very practical. I guess the biggest issue I see here is that the families end up selling them or trading them to the market, which doesn't help the issue the TOMS is trying to prevent.