The Story of Cibaduyut Shoe Craftsmen, Rise by Going Online

He has been in the business of making leather shoes for dozens of years. Dindin started his leather shoe making business in 2007. He is the second generation to continue his parents' business.

Dindin said that one of the motivations for him to become a shoemaker was to maintain the quality of shoe production in Cibaduyut.

"In the past, Cibaduyut shoes were famous, the 'Bogis' shoes on Wednesday, bought on Thursday, were damaged. This is an image that is concerning for the world of footwear in Cibaduyut. This is my motivation for how can the image of Cibaduyut shoes be lifted again. We want to maintain their quality," he said .

He said that during his heyday he could make thousands of pairs of shoes per week with up to 35 workers.

The shoes he made have been marketed to almost all parts of Indonesia and even to foreign countries.

However, the business was not without obstacles, the pandemic caused the business to stop and almost went out of business.

"Since 2014 there has been a decline, the peak of the decline in 2020 was during the pandemic," he said.

Two years of stumbling due to the pandemic, now the shoe industry in Cibaduyut is slowly starting to revive.

Dindin said that currently the artisans are getting full assistance from the Bandung City Government to start marketing their products through online marketing, training and being included in various exhibitions.

"This is a very good response from the government through the sub-districts, we get assistance from the Bandung City Government which is so total. At this time it is starting to crawl again, this momentum is very appropriate to be assisted by the government so that the opportunities are more open," he said.

Online marketing, continued Dindin, is now an effective means of boosting shoe sales.

"From 2019 until now, online marketing has been very effective. We have prepared shops on the marketplace. In the past, my customers were 100 percent offline, during the pandemic everything decreased. Now what is reviving now is online sales," said Dindin.

To protect its customers, Dindin continues to maintain and improve the quality of its production. He also dared to say that the quality of Cibaduyut shoe products is no less good than imported or domestic products.

He hopes that there will be continuous training to improve human resources and encourage the regeneration of shoe craftsmen in Cibaduyut.

"Because people's interest in becoming shoemakers is starting to wane. I don't know in 20-30 years there will still be shoemakers. The solution is with continuous training, this is to keep the Cibaduyut shoe center growing," he said.

Bandung City Government Provide Assistance

Head of the Economic and Development Section (Ekbang) of the Cibaduyut Subdistrict, Ina Herlina, admitted that she had taken steps to increase the marketing and production of craftsmen.

The Cibaduyut Village has collaborated with a university and an e-commerce company. A total of 22 artisans were involved in the program. They are expected to be able to transform to digital.

"We have conducted 9 ongoing training sessions. We bring in the artisans to take advantage of online marketing so that the reach becomes wider," said Ina.

"Yesterday, those we trained included young people," he added

Ina said, another challenge is that not many artisans in Cibaduyut have their own brand. Not a few craftsmen who produce for large companies.

Ina said, currently in Cibaduyut Village there are 195 artisans. Meanwhile, the total number of artisans in Bojongloa Kidul District has reached more than 600 artisans.

Ina admitted that currently various programs are being rolled out in an effort to motivate artisans to be able to make their own products.

In collaboration with one of the universities, they conduct marketing training, create content, edit photos and more.

"We do this to encourage young people in Cibaduyut to want to continue producing shoes. The problem was that they found it difficult to market them. With this program, hopefully they can have a brand," said Ina.

Ina explained, currently shoe production in Cibaduyut is starting to revive with online marketing which is now being intensified.

"Thank God, there has been an increase. There have been additional employees, and production has also resumed," said Ina.

To continue to increase the prestige of the Cibaduyut shoe center, the Bandung City Government held the Cibaduyut Center Festival at Ciwalk from 8 to 13 November.

"This festival is in order to improve the Cibaduyut shoe brand. With this festival, the Cibaduyut brand has gone up a class again and the Cibaduyut center has become a tourist destination where tourists come to Cibaduyut," he said.

Apart from that, in collaboration with the puskesmas, craftsmen are now also given free medical examination facilities through the UKK Post (occupational health unit) for Cibaduyut craftsmen.

"The ball pick-up officers immediately came to the craftsmen to carry out a health check," he said.

Now, to strengthen solidity and collaboration between artisans in Cibaduyut, Ina initiated the formation of the C shoe forum.