It must have been in the early 1960s that my mother got her first car. In that small, light blue simca 1000, as far as I can remember, there was always a horseshoe in the glove compartment. No one ever asked why it was there because everyone knew that driving a car in those days was dangerous and that horseshoes brought good luck. And I'm sure it worked because my mother drove damage-free for 50 years. And she drove like a guy.
When I got my own driver's license many years later, she also gave me a horseshoe for the car. That horseshoe is now in the trunk of my 9th car, and I too still drive damage-free. In recent years, I have regularly given horseshoes to friends and family myself. In the beginning it was when a driver's license was obtained, but later it was also at a wedding, a baptism or an exciting exam. Slowly I got so much demand for these lucky charms that in 1999 I turned them into a webshop. That store has grown rapidly and now we ship lucky horseshoes all over the world every day with a whole team. In those years, the horseshoes have become more beautiful, the packaging is better and the package we sell has become more complete.
But most importantly, those lucky horseshoes are really used and still bring as much luck as ever.
Luke
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our first webshop!
1999: the start of Goodluckhorseshoes.com
The demand for lucky horseshoes is taking such forms that it makes it easier for me to sell them over the Internet. This was at a time when Internet shops were still very unknown. The first shop therefore focused on the USA where web shops were already well established.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
an engraved horseshoe
2000: Horseshoe engraving
We thought it would be fun to add personalized engraving to the horseshoes. That was easy to come up with, but in practice it was more difficult than we thought. The first engraving machine we bought turned out not to be very suitable. The wrought iron is very hard and in the beginning we lost a lot of engraving needles. In the meantime we have a whole series of engraving machines specially adapted for us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congestion at customs
2001: Lucky horseshoes to the USA
The attacks in the USA have a big impact even for us. Most of the packages we send to the USA are confiscated by customs. They don't trust anyone anymore. Time to look at new markets.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dutch webshop: Hoefijzers.nl
2002: Lucky horseshoes in the Netherlands
Because sales to the USA have stopped, we have translated the web shop into Dutch... We are very curious to see if the down-to-earth Dutch want to give each other luck. And that is very much the case!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hoefijzers.nl on television at 'Kopspijkers'
2003: Luck on TV
With the Dutch site we get many newspapers and even appear on TV here and there. The highlight of the publicity was the attention of 'Kopspijkers' for the website. What an enormous response you get!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2004: New webshop
Times change, we are ready for a new design of the web shop. We immediately made everything in German as well. And that's going well!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stars and stripes
2005: Good Luck USA
We are making a tentative attempt to restart sales in the USA. They are over the worst scare there and sales are picking up. We get to hand over more and more lucky horseshoes to famous movie stars.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Good Luck Horseshoes to UK
2006: Good Luck to the UK
We have now adapted the site for the USA for England as well. English people love lucky horseshoes. Fortunately, we do not suffer from the time difference here and transportation costs are not too bad.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Foreign luck
2007: Foreign luck
The list of foreign dealers is getting longer and longer... It's demanding on our office staff but it's great fun to hear their enthusiastic responses.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Neiman Marcus
2008: Luck in a luxury department store
Neiman Marcus is a very upscale retail chain in the USA. At their request, we are developing a special set of lucky horseshoes. We are even in the Christmas catalog with half a page.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ronald Reagan Museum
2009: Giant USA Horseshoe
The Ronald Reagan Museum has included the Giant USA in its collection. And we are quite proud of that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gift Lounge Golden Globe elections
2010: Celebrities Golden Globe Elections
We have been invited to stand at the Gift Lounge of the Golden Globe elections. It's a wonder parade of famous (and not so famous) movie stars. And all of them love the Lucky Horseshoes.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entourage
2011: Movie Entourage
To our surprise, one of our Giant Horseshoes hangs prominently for an entire season in the study of the main character of the American television series Entourage.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012: Your own horseshoe
Okay, we're going to do it: For years, people asked if they could send in their own horseshoe to be gilded....
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013: Lucky moment
Our Facebook page “Lucky Moment” is launching!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014: Time for something new
We redesigned the entire website. Much more modern and now also suitable for mobile use.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015: Design display
We worked on this for a long time, but the first set of displays is ready. With these you can just put a horseshoe on the table, without having to hang it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016: Wish Lucky Horseshoes
We purchased a new machine that allows us to make beautiful wall signs. Weeks went by designing, testing and photographing. But it has become a beautiful series.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017: Moving
We moved... What a job to pack and unpack all the stuff. (Horseshoes are heavy) And all the while sales continue.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018: Another new webshop
Technical developments continue. Therefore, we decided to create another new web shop. The first tests have started, with different systems. With which one can we do best.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019: France, here we come!
The new web shop is slowly starting to look like something. We are immediately adding a French version. By the end of the year, everything should be ready to serve France as well.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020: Covid
What a time!!! We work from home, suppliers are closed, panic in the world... But fortunately, selling happiness continues as usual!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021: We are moving again
Covid seems to be blowing over, sales picking up so we need more space. Once again packing everything up!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022: Good Luck Horseshoes
A new year, a new website, we are improving the production process and are busy restyling our good luck packages. From now on we will go global under 1 name: Good Luck Horseshoes (previously hoefijzers.nl and other various international domain names, now www.goodluckhorseshoes.com).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2023: Lucky packages in a new look
When you open the newly designed gift package, you are not only surprised by the stunning hand-engraved horseshoe; the presentation is equally important. Wrapped in stylish packaging, the entire package offers a sense of luxury rarely encountered in the world of gifts and lucky charms.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024: Good Luck Horseshoes is celebrating its 25th anniversary!
How quickly time has passed and how fast we have grown in those 25 years! We now deliver personalized horseshoes worldwide in beautiful gift packaging. We thank all our (loyal) customers and are super proud of this milestone!