Quote Originally Posted by jessmarimba View Post
Chaco actually made trail shoes for awhile but I can't find enough info to see if the footbed design was similar.
Nope, it wasn't.

In the 1990's Chaco subcontracted with Merrell to make leather hiking shoes and boots. (ironic, considering Chaco was later bought by Wolverine World Wide, the holding company that also owns Merrell). Those shoes and boots weren't even made on the same *last*, let alone with the same footbed! They were horrible.

Later Chaco made some trail shoes/sneakers. Not the same footbed, but the removable insole (cheap foam) was contoured to be similar to the beloved sandal footbed.

Now Chaco has the Ped Shed and Toe Coop, which ARE on the same footbed (finally!) and can be resoled. They (actually Wolverine) borrowed an idea from Birkenstock and created a Tokyo style back-strap clog and a London style closed heel "shoe".

The original owner and designer of Chaco (aka "Gecko" for us old folks!) started creating some really bizarre Croc rip-offs after he sold Chaco. I can't even remember the name of his rip-offs. They were just sad.