In the lobby of G&W Heel Lift, on a cool evening in September, Jenny Gross presses the lever down on a cast iron, antique embossing machine while her cousin, Finley, 7, takes notes. When raised, the stamper reveals a crisp brown “G&W” on the surface of a cork and vinyl heel lift no larger than the palm of Finley’s small hand.
“As soon as I could count to twelve I was bundling lifts a dozen at a time in our Grandparents’ basement,” Jenny explains. Finley’s older sister, Dylan, 13, confidently declares she’ll be working at G&W soon, too. And with that, stamping, boxing and shipping heel lifts becomes a family tradition four generations strong. During the fall of 2017, G&W Heel Lift celebrates 50 years of serving their customers.
As the daughter of the co-founders, Jenny estimates she’s pressed that embosser down thousands of times. After all, she was just seven months old when her Mother, Father, Grandmother and Grandfather embarked on a new business to give people suffering from back pain a lift. Literally.
Heel lifts are used to relieve the back pain caused by a leg deficiency – when a patient has one leg longer than the other. By placing a small lift in the shoe of the shorter leg, the pelvis is aligned, relieving stress on the lower back. Best of all, they’re both easy to use and inexpensive.
Co-founder Willa Gross is thrilled that Jenny has recently joined the team. “It’s such a blessing having her here.” Jenny recently transitioned from her job as a senior buyer at Jet Aviation to become a permanent member of the G&W team. Of course, Jenny’s responsibilities at G&W are a bit more expansive than stamping now. “I'm responsible for marketing, purchasing and product development,” she explains, often moving between buying, marketing and customer service on any given day. She now holds the title of Director of Marketing and Development. It’s a title the four co-founders likely never dreamed they would require fifty years earlier, when the company began in an unfinished basement in the small Midwestern town of Cuba, Missouri.
As a young Chiropractor, in the fall of 1967, Dr. Arthur Gross was dissatisfied with the quality of heel lifts available to treat leg deficiency. Having run out of low cost, high-quality options, he decided to develop one of his own. But having a young family and a new practice, Dr. Gross and his wife Willa needed a partner to help get the new endeavor off the ground. They didn’t have to go far to find one. Willa’s parents, Willis and Dorothy Wilkinson, had recently retired from Brauer Brothers Shoe Company and were a natural ‘fit’ to help bring the company to life.
Orders started coming in within the next two weeks… In the beginning, the cork lifts were stamped and shipped from Dorothy and Willis’ small, unfinished basement. “[We] sent out probably 200 or 300 [samples] to names in the American Chiropractic Association directory,” says Dr. Gross, “and orders started coming in within the next two weeks.”
Demand for G&W’s namesake cork heel lift grew swiftly, as did G&W itself. They moved from that unfinished basement to progressively larger commercial spaces and added several full time employees including Art and Willa’s son, Trey, four years Jenny’s senior, who had grown up along side the business and parlayed his extensive product knowledge into a successful relationship with clients.
The products offered at G&W Heel Lift grew as well. “We started with the cork heel lifts, then added an injection molded heel lift, adjustable heel lift, clearly adjustable heel lift, an adjustable foot lift and a combination heel lift/foot lift. All these products evolved out of listening to our clients’ needs and their conditions,” says Dr. Gross. G&W now ships over 200,000 items from their product line globally each year.
Dedicated to the mission of helping our customers… Initially, their core business was to chiropractors, but that has also evolved to include all healthcare professions including massage therapists, physical therapists, medical doctors, dentists, osteopaths, physiatrists, orthotists, and orthopedic surgeons.
Art and Willa Gross are both quick to assert that it’s their employees that continue to assure their success. “Through the years we've had many employees at G&W,” Art explains. “All…dedicated to the mission of helping our customers. I can't say enough good things about them.” This dedicated staff has helped G&W grow into a global brand, shipping hundreds of thousands of lifts to nearly 50 countries around the globe, but they’ve clung steadfastly to their small town roots in their relationship with customers.
“Customer service remains a top priority”, Dr. Gross says. “A real, live person answers the phone every time it rings. If they don't have the answer you will be directed to someone who does.”
Our future is bright… Two of the four original owners, Art and Willa Gross, continue to lead the company they started fifty years ago. At 98, co-founder Dorothy Wilkinson is no longer involved in the day to day operations of the company, but she still glows with pride discussing the simple beginnings of the company compared to where it stands today. “It was a little bitty thing when it started, but not anymore.”
Jenny is both humbled and excited about her future with G&W. “I mean, I do have the responsibility of keeping the place going for another 50 years,” she jokes. “Yes, that would make me 100 years old, but it could happen. I'm up for the challenge!”
Dr. Gross agrees. “Our future is bright. There will always be a need for heel lifts. Research proves that more and more every day.”
G&W Heel Lift doesn’t use that antique embosser anymore, they’ve upgraded many times over, but it holds a place of honor in the front lobby of their 4,000 square foot production facility.
Finley has decided she’s done with labels for the time being as she tests the weight of various office supplies on the postage scale. Overhearing Dylan’s summer job plans, Willa confirms that she’s more than welcome to join the team. “There are plenty of lifts to go around.”
