Footwear Insight

24 • Footwear Insight ~ November/December 2021 footwearinsight.com By Cara Griffin D escribing the past year as "challenging" for independent retailers would be an under- statement. Retail competition, inventory shortages and a boatload of pan- demic-related obstacles have kept everyone's problem-solving mode in overdrive. But each of the store's that earned a spot on our Gold Medal Service Award list this year managed to navigate the year and successfully deliver for their customers. For Reyers Shoe Store, this year's top- scoring Gold Medal store, 2021 had another major challenge — a moving one. Reyers, which had been located in Sharon, PA for 134 years, relocated its flagship store over the summer, and is now located a short drive across state lines in a mall in Ohio. But while Reyers, run by co-owners and brothers Mark and Steven Jubelirer, may have gone through a major change this year, more than a few things have remained the same. "We have defined our brand around three simple words — style, service and selection," says Mark Jubelirer. "Those words adorn our store front, as a message to our customers that this is a promise that we make to them." We caught up with Mark Jubelirer, who serves as president at Reyers, to learn more about the move, the past, present and future of the store, and to get some insight into the secrets of their success. Originally established by a German immigrant cobbler in 1886 in Sharon, a small town on the Pennsylvania/Ohio border, Reyers was purchased by Mark and Steven's father Harry in 1952. Over the years, Reyers became a draw for miles, marketing itself as the world's largest shoe store, growing from a 1200 square foot space into a 36,000 square foot downtown anchor. Along the way, Mark says he and Steven learned from Harry that, "It's in the doing that superior service is learned and taught. Our father preached to us that if you take care of the customer, then everything else takes care of itself. We watched him as he serviced customers over the decades when he was out there selling. So did our management team, which is largely still with us. His ethos became ingrained in us." While the store thrived in Sharon for decades, the surrounding downtown business district eventually lost its luster, slowed down, and brought less traffic. As the store's enormous footprint became increasingly untenable in recent years, Jubelirer says, "My brother and I agreed GOLD MEDAL SERVICE AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE 2021 MOVIN' ON UP Photos: Michael Stephen, www.michaelstephenstudios.com Mark (left) and Steven Jubelirer of Reyers Shoe Store. Reyers Shoe Store Is Our Top-Scoring Store of the Year.

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