Footwear Insight

footwearinsight.com December 2020 ~ Footwear Insight • 21 been working with her over the past several months with custom orthotics and various types of shoes to help her recovery and get her back to her prior activity levels. "Our business is a little different than a 'typical' shoe store as we are C. Peds and have an orientation around foot, knee, back and hip pain relief," says Peterson. Key brands for Foot Savvy (which carries over 30 different women's brands) range from Brooks and New Balance to Beautifeel, Naot, Sanita, Wolky and Gabor. Looking ahead, Peterson says that while he had been planning on bringing in several new brands for 2021, due to the current business environment, "those plans are on hold." — CG Lucky Shoes The tried and true has always worked best at Lucky Shoes, an Ohio retail institution for 101 years. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Buckeye State earlier this year, prompting an eight-week shutdown statewide, the four-door chain (which also operates two Vionic stores and eight New Balance banners) turned to personal deliveries, curbside pickup and free shipping as new business necessities. "But I can't say that any of them worked particularly well," says John Luck, president and fourth- generation family member to lead the operation. "What worked for pre-COVID-19 is what continues to work for us now — measuring feet, suggesting better, and leading the customer to a better outcome is what we did, and it is still what we do. The only difference is that now we do it wearing a mask, and we wash our hands more often." With Lucky locations in Fairlawn (the Akron market), Strongsville, Easton (the Columbus market) and Canton, OH, the biggest challenge for the 100-plus employee family shoe chain in 2020 "has been to greet every customer with a smile, making our stores a 'shelter from the storm,'" says Luck. That extra effort has resulted in both good and bad customer service interactions in the pandemic environment. Luck refers to them as "incidents" and "problems." "While both may leave you upset and shaking, a problem needs to be address and solved while an incident needs to be handled and put behind you," stresses the great-grandson of Joe Luck, who founded the business by selling apparel and boots out of a pushcart in 1914 and opened his first store five years later in Akron. Unfortunately, some of the worst customer interactions at Lucky Shoes this year have involved physical intimidation over masks with "some really good customers telling us they would never shop us again over a policy put in place to protect them," recalls Luck. But these episodes have failed to overshadow the patience, kindness and thoughtfulness expressed by clients and employees alike. Through good and difficult interactions, there have also been disappointments such as the cancellation of the annual store party for the first time in decades. The business pivoted, opting instead to give its employees gift cards to local restaurants or grocery stores. But the banner's "Lucky Bucks Auction" will continue this year as a virtual event. "We couldn't risk the entire company being in the same room together," John says, before adding, "You better believe the Lucky Shoes Party in 2021 will be one for the ages!" Looking ahead, Luck is frank when asked about how this pandemic year might impact strategic plans "The first rule, and the only rule for the time being is to do what it takes to sur- vive. That is the mindset now, and it will continue to be the mindset until we are out of this." John Luck, Lucky Shoes Foot Savvy Lucky Shoes

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