Interview with Walid Nouh, Flaneurz

Video (Translation of the interview below)

The idea is to modify a pair of shoes and turn it into roller quads.

Where does the name « Flaneurz » come from?

The name was found during a brain storming session, we where looking for names that were fun and easy to say both in French and English. The word « Flaneurz » came out. The flaneur is « le botaniste de l’asphalte » according to Baudelaire. We loved the concept and added a « Z » at the end. It became Flaneurz.

Who’s part of the Flaneurz team?

The team is composed of four people:
Florian Gravier who’s the instigator of the project. It’s him who created the company and the quad On Wheelz.
There’s Arnaud Darut-Giard, who’s an engineer from Arts et Metiers. He’s the person who created the roller skates.
There’s David Brun who’s Florian’s childhood friend. He’s controller of taxes.
And than there’s me, Walid, I’m a computer engineer and skater since 30 years.

How did the adventure start?

The adventure started because Florian, from of his job, worked in a lot of countries and moved to approximately 40 countries always with his quads. He looked at people’s reaction when he came in with his sneakers quad. People where always intrigued and asked where they could buy them. He made some prototypes for a couple people and saw there was an interest for that type of skates. However each time he would go for a walk he had to take a bag to put his shoes inside to enter a shop. Like many of us, he said to himself « what if I could walk and roll at the same time? » So, he started from this idea to create the Flaneurz project.

Who is your target?

The easy target (if I can say so) are, at first, skaters who are interested because they already practice roller skating and need to have an extra pair of shoes. But, in a more general way, our target is anyone who walks. Finally, at my big surprise, people from my surroundings (both personal and professional) that already bought a pair of their own and who weren’t roller skaters before.

When will the first products be available?

The first products will be available at the end of the Kickstarter campaign. For the first buyers, the products will arrive in September. For the buyers who buy now, the products will arrive between October and November. After the kickstarter campaign, it will be possible to pre-order the products for a delivery scheduled later on.

Where will we be able to find Flaneurz roller skates or the Flaneurz system?

Good question! For now, they are available via Kickstarter. In the future, we have not yet thought about a way to commercialize the system so it can be at the same time easy to find and easy to assemble the skates while assuring the quality of the product we deliver.

Can we assemble any type of shoes on this system?

Yes we can assemble any type of shoes as long as the sol is flat with a thickness of at least 7 mm at the front and 12 mm at the back. Based on that, it’s possible to assemble the Flaneurz system on your pair of shoes. It can be city shoes, sneakers or any other type of shoes.

Would you like to say a word to conclude?

To conclude, I would tell everyone who didn’t go on Kickstarter to have a look. If there interested, to the skates right away to support us. The more funds we have at the beginning the more we will invest, buy machines and launch the production quickly!
To finish, I’d say that I’m personally very satisfied because it’s a concept that I’m not sure if would work elsewhere. The idea to make a quad sneaker is purely a French idea. It’ s a concept that very little country has. If we have hockey shoes or derbies shoes, what would be the purpose of unhooking them to enter a shop? With our system, since we assemble quad sneakers, it came to our mind right away. We have exported our innovation and our expertise. Usually it’s the opposite. We import the expertise. It’s a personal satisfaction.

Thank you Walid.

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By Alfathor