Not long after the Second World War, Alessandro and Richardo Daru opened their first plant. Then in 1966, things really took a turn: Mr. Alessandro Daru invented an all in one leather cream. URAD was born! At first, the «demand» came from leather furniture manufacturers who really appreciated that in only a few minutes they could give back a «show room» finish to their work of art! For many years URAD was mainly used by these professionals. Our catalogue included big sizes URAD (E.I.: 5 and 50 kg barrels) and a few other industrial products.

In 1969, Mr. Heinz Kaufmann was introduced to the product and was amazed at the results he was obtaining with old tattered leather. When he tried it on his shoes, he was convinced he had discovered something! He asked Mr. Daru to manufacture URAD in «small» jars of 500g and, in 1973, went to a Flea Market to test out, commercially, his idea. Inspired by the traditional «shoeshine chair», he demonstrated the qualities of URAD leather cream on people’s shoes, and in one day alone, sold 144 jars of URAD! This marketing method for shoe care products is still in use today and has been copied by many. It may not be the most glamorous method, but Mr. Kaufmann has always taken pride in being able to show directly to people the quality of his products. It was not through some TV trick or slick image ad campaigns; he wanted to show them the real thing, on their own handbags, their own leather jackets and on their own shoes!

Also noteworthy, from 1978 to 1982, Mr. Daru received 5 consecutive awards of excellence and quality for his URAD LEATHER CREAM!

Development continued in Europe for many years. Then, in 1983, with URAD being distributed in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Belgium, England and the Netherlands, he set course for a new challenge: North America. He moved with his family to Montreal, Canada, and expanded his URAD business, following the same pattern as in Europe, attending the popular Flea Market in Old Montreal, where, on the first day he sold 178 jars! URAD was still there when they closed down that flea market in 1997 but not before having sold over 200,000 jars of URAD to people who came from all around the world! From there he met people interested in bringing URAD to United States and other parts of the world as well as people who could introduce Urad in major chain stores. As a matter of fact, shortly after, you could find demonstrations in all the major chain stores in Canada.

Today, URAD is present in major chain stores, in most shoe repair shops, in tack shops, furniture stores and more recently in some shoe stores. We have continued to keep in touch with our clientele and you can still find URAD demonstrations in over 500 fairs, shows and flea markets around the world. We are represented in over 15 countries and our catalogue now has over 150 URAD quality products! Orlando and Loris, Mr. Daru’s sons, have taken over their father’s plant. They have followed in the tradition of Mr. Daru by creating new quality products for modern materials and new trends.

In 1993, Dominique B. Dupuis, followed in the footsteps of his stepfather, Mr. Kaufmann. In 1997 he traveled back to Europe, and successfully opened one of the only major European countries where URAD was not yet permanently represented: France. He now oversees additions to the product line, penetration into new specialized markets and expansion into new territories.

We celebrated the beginning of the new millennium with another milestone in the company’s history: the opening of our internet site which made URAD available to the entire world! In 2012, a major branding overhaul program was initiated and resulted in a new company’s logo and newly redesigned product labels. In 2013, the program was completed with a brand new updated web site. But one thing was not and will never change: the quality of our products! You can always count on us to maintain the tradition of quality and excellence that has been our trademark for more than half a century.

Urad Grasso

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