14 • Footwear Insight ~ March/April 2021 footwearinsight.com
RETAIL
SPRING
AWAKENING
Independent
Retailers
Plan for a
Post-Pandemic
Future.
By Jennifer Ernst Beaudry
A
s temperatures warm and
days get longer, retailers
are seeing some light at
the end of the tunnel.
But after a year filled
with shutdowns, supply
chain disruption and unprecedented
uncertainty, independent footwear shops
say they're also trying to prepare for what
the new retail normal might look like.
What's Working Now
The good news: While it's not universal,
multiple shops said that they've seen
an uptick in traffic as vaccines have
rolled out.
"We have ladies in their 60s and 70s
coming out and buying three, four or
five pairs because they've been cooped
up for a year," said Lanne Stauffer, who
Service with a (masked)
smile at Fleet Feet Nashville.
