Rainbow Sandals Inc. was established in 1974 in San Clemente, California by Jay "Sparky" Longley. The company specializes in men's and women's leather flip-flops. When Longley first started making sandals, he was assembling 15 pairs per day out of leather and Malaysian rubber in the garage of his Laguna Beach home. The company eventually relocated to San Clemente and began manufacturing 1,200 pairs of sandals a day. Once sold exclusively in California, Rainbow has grown to become one of the top three best-selling brands of sandals in the United States, along with competitors Reef and Teva. Rainbows are generally regarded as high-end flip-flops (as opposed to ordinary foam rubber ones) due to their construction with a leather thong and footbed, with many pairs costing around $40. Once advertised as "Proudly Made in the USA," Rainbow Sandals are now produced 'off shore' in China. This change in production was made in 2002.
