The London Lounge

I have witnessed a strange e-mail exchange re Balint shoes in Vienna. First was a note from the company:

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren!
Bitte entnehmen Sie nachstehend unsere geänderten Kontaktdaten.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Béla Bálint

Béla Bálint
Wißgrillgasse 10/13A | 1140 Wien
Tel. +4367762385865
masschuhe.balint@gmail.com

This was followed by some angry, probably very Viennese responses from people who didn't like having their email addresses made public. So far, so clear.

As part of this flurry, there were allusions to "reorientation" and "doors closing."

Any idea of what is up with that company? Have they stopped making shoes?

I got one lovely pair made 6 years ago, which they are just now adjusting. Speaking selfishly, it would be a shame to have all that R&D disappear. [Especially now that the magnificent Tadeusz Januskiewicz just turned 90 over in Warsaw. The startup risks of shoe purchases in less-developed markets!]

It`s an information that there has been a change of address (E-Mail and/or shop).

Well, yes.

Any other info from someone closer to the situation would be helpful.

Early December last year a user on another forum posted that he had just taken delivery of his last pair of Balint shoes and that they would close their shop at the end of the year. I've contacted him about it, but I'm not sure if I'll receive an answer. There was talk that business was slow after the death of Lajos Balint but given that they are a household name for Viennese bespoke and their rather large customer base, I didn't expect such an outcome.

I still haven't heard back from them, after having tried the new contact e-mail. I am willing to learn from any success stories on that front.