History
I was in the shoe business when I met my wife, whose family was also in the shoe business. After going to work for her parents, we soon bought one of their stores and grew it over time. As a result, our children were the eighth generation to be involved in the shoe industry.
Most notably, my wife and I operated a multi-location retail shoe business named Alan's Shoes. After a few years, we took on friends as partners in an expansion move and that was one of the best partnerships ever. We operated comfort stores and a Birkenstock licensed store. At one time, we also operated a men's clothing store near a university.
At one point, we merged Alan's Shoes with a large national chain and I took on executive positions at the big chain. I left the big chain and went back to Tucson and opened a New Balance store and a wide width specialty store.
Later on, after restarting in the shoe business, my wife and I took back those locations that we had sold the big chain and we ran Alan's Shoes for another 20 years. During that time, we also operated New Balance stores, Birkenstock stores, wide width specialty tores, and a remote store in another city, in addition to our core large stores known as Alan's Shoes.
Recognized several times by consumers and peers, Alan's Shoes achieved status as an award winning retail business. Within our market area, we were known for carrying sizes and widths, lots of athletic shoes, and comfort brands, and as a full service sit and fit shoe business. As a result, we built up a loyal following of customers. We sold service and fit and became the favorite place to purchase the top comfort brands in the community.
Recently, we sold Alan's Shoes for a second time and it was merged into a larger retailer's portfolio of stores.