It has been 25 years since Kalidas Gautam of Pokhara started making shoes. It has been 7 years since he started selling 'Caliber' shoes of his own 'KD Shoes Industries'. Founded by Kalidas, this industry is currently run by his sons Prasanna and Aman.

Since the age of 16/17, Kalidas' tireless hard work and professional attachment have resulted in the choice of 'Caliber' brand shoes by every youth. At the age of 16/17, my father left home. Then he used to sell cigarettes on his bicycle,' Prasanna said, recalling the past, 'We are here now because of my father's hard work since then.' After that, he brought garments from there and started selling them.'

Prasanna remembers that the shop was limited to Pokhara and then expanded to a wholesale shop in Fasikeb, New Road, Kathmandu. Bringing and selling goods from India and China, Kalidas also started in the shoe industry in Pokhara. At that time Prasanna was only 10 years old. However, since then, he has learned how to make shoes. After coming to Kathmandu to study, the traffic in his New Road wholesale shop has also increased. "My father and uncle had a wholesale shop in partnership," he said. After completing his studies, Prasanna started his own shoe business by bringing raw materials for shoes from China. "The things I brought were more fashionable than my father's, that's why they started selling well," he recalled about his professional steps 15 years ago.

The demand for shoes was increasing day by day because of the quality and durability. However, it did not have its own brand. Even though the shoes were made by themselves, they were sold with the labeling of foreign brands. Prasanna said, 'Shoes were also in good demand. Since this is also my education, I proposed to go into the concept of a showroom with my father to create my own brand. Dad also agreed, and the Caliber brand was born.' Adapting his father's skills, efficiency and pleasure of learning, the business grew at a rate that doubled during the day and quadrupled during the night. Brother Aman was also there. Prasanna said, "If you made shoes under your own brand and placed 2/3 of them in the market, where did the business go?" Prasanna said, "Shoes could not be delivered according to the market demand." 'After we were successful there, we opened in Koteshwar, Central Baneshwar, customers started liking our shoes,' he said, 'and we decided to open a shoe shop in Durbarmarg.' He used to throw it away. ``When others were teasing me, I used to think that I will sell these Nepali brand shoes and show them, but I couldn't speak,'' Aman narrated, 'but after opening in Darbarmarg, our shoes got better exposure among customers. We have shown that Nepali brands will do well if they are of good quality.''A dozen showrooms of 'Caliber' brand were opened on Darbar Marg. 60 showrooms have been opened across the country during the 7 years of 'Caliber' brand. 

'calibre' meaning ability. He is pleased that the name of the shoe is named 'Caliber' as it is easy to manage the market as the name sounds strong. He claims that Caliber is the choice of most Nepali youth recently due to the youth targeted design. "People over 50 years of age may not know about our shoes," he said, "but we are known among the youth, now we are slowly making shoes and slippers targeting all age groups." "Now there is a plan to have an equal share in women's footwear as well," he said. Let's go ahead with 50/50 from Dasain.' 

'Calibre' brand shoes are most consumed among the age group of 16 to 40 years. In our experience, fashionable is needed. White shoes are required for sneakers," said Prasanna, "60 to 70 percent of people in foreign countries have white shoes on their feet." He said that 50 percent of caliber shoes are made in white color. Kalidas now looks after the factory. "Father looks after manufacturing. We are doing well with his guidelines," Prasanna said. "Bhai Aman looks after marketing, I look after designing, buying and selling, distribution, production and raw materials." He said, 'We had to get comfortable and durable shoes at an affordable price.'

Caliber, which produced 2 to 300 pairs of shoes daily in the early days, has now expanded its capacity to produce 1200 to 1500 pairs of shoes daily from its factory in Bhangal, Kathmandu. "Now we have reached a stage where we can compete with international brands," said Prasanna, who is also the director of KD Suze Industries. We are opening a showroom in Dubai soon, an agreement has been reached for that.'' He said that there is a plan to open a showroom in Sydney, Australia, and he added, 'But if we fail by taking the brand abroad, it will be difficult to go back to the same brand. That's why there is a plan to gradually strengthen the market.' He said that they are in favor of not rushing to open a showroom.  More than 300 shoes with collars are being produced in