I Would Walk 500 Miles - Pedestrian Shops
In addition to being one of the best songs ever, 500 miles happens to be the average distance a person walks in a pair of shoes before they are retired. Richard Polk knows a lot about shoes. He estimates he has sold at least one million pairs of shoes since he opened Pedestrian Shops in Downtown Boulder in 1969. Maybe two million, he guesses. If each of the pairs of shoes he sold was walked 500 miles, that’s about a billion miles covered. In comfort and style.
“We got into the shoe business to do more than just make money,” Richard recounts from the days 56 years ago when he started his business with a partner. “We wanted to help make our community better, and our focus was always on comfort.”
Richard and his partner bought a used bookmobile and started selling Earth Shoes out of it at various locations. They built some custom shoes and hired a carpenter to cut the wood. “We had to spray them for ants,” Richard recounts.
The business was soon successful enough to start a bricks-and-mortar store in 1971, first at 1334 Pearl (where Alpaca Connection is now located), and later at the current spot at 1425 Pearl. “There was a lot of optimism,” Richard recalls of his early days as a shoe salesman in the 1970s. “It was exciting and scary. We were drunk with optimism. We were young, and we could do no wrong.”
When the Pearl Street Mall was proposed in the mid-1970s, Richard was an early proponent. “The first year of the Mall, in 1977, was an instant success.” Richard had successes too. One of the first sellers of Crocs shoes, founded in Boulder County, Richard could barely keep them in stock, they were so popular. He estimates that ten percent of the one to two million pairs of shoes he has sold have been the brightly colored foam sandals.
“It was a business phenomenon,” Richard explains. “We were selling 100 pairs over the lunch hour. People would buy them and send them to their friends and family around the country. It was crazy.”
In business for more than half a century, Richard has passed day-to-day operations to his daughters, Zoe and Lauren. “You need an exit,” Richard says. “When you can turn your business over to your kids, that’s the best. The family business is a wonderful American thing.”
Zoe Polk grew up surrounded by shoes, with Pedestrian Shops already 20 years old by the time she was born. “When we were little kids,” Zoe recounts, “after dinner, when all the shops on the Pearl Street Mall were closed, my dad would bring us down to the store and let us in. It was cool being in the shoe store after hours. But I couldn’t understand why my father couldn’t unlock all the stores on the Mall.”
Zoe says that one of her favorite brands to sell is the mainstay Birkenstock. “It’s surprising how emotionally tied people are to the Birkenstock brand. People have nostalgia for them.”
She observes that people have strong feelings about their feet. “Everyone thinks they have special feet,” Zoe notes. “But when it comes down to it, everybody’s feet are pretty much the same.” When I was in college, I sold shoes at a department store in Omaha. So, I can vouch for Zoe’s observations. While they come in slightly different sizes and shapes, feet are feet.
But Zoe does feel that there is a different shoe for every person, based on the style that appeals to them and what they want to do in the shoes. And she has noticed that people love to look at shoes with friends and family.
“People like shopping for shoes because it’s a communal activity. You can try on a pair of shoes with a friend. You can’t do that with underwear.”
Zoe laments the trend towards buying shoes online. “We want people to come into our shop and interact with our staff,” Zoe explains. “Buying shoes is such a tactile experience. It’s better to try on a pair of shoes before you buy them. Not only to make sure they fit, but to check the style and color and quality. You can’t do that online.”
And the Polks don’t just sell shoes, they collect used ones. Twice a year, at Thanksgiving and Earth Day, Pedestrian Shops accepts donations of shoes, which they then give to nonprofits like Deacon’s Closet, which in turn distributes shoes and clothing to low-income families and people experiencing homelessness. Next month, around Thanksgiving, go through your closet, pick out a pair or two you haven’t worn for a while, and take them down to Pedestrian Shops for redistribution. Your shoes will end up on the feet of someone who can get a few more miles out of them.
“Our family has been selling shoes on Pearl Street since 1969, even before the Mall was built,” Zoe observes. “There is nothing as good as the Mall. We’re happy to be here. We hope to be selling shoes here for a long, long time.”
Richard and Zoe remind me that their store on the Pearl Street Mall is about more than selling shoes. They are supporting a lifestyle that recognizes that it’s good to be outside, with someone you like, moving your body. It’s all reflected in their motto: Enjoy life, take a walk. Maybe even 500 miles. One step at a time.
Interview Courtesy of Bob Yates
