Footwear Insight

34 • Footwear Insight ~ January/February 2025 footwearinsight.com "For 2025, I'd like to see old-time seasonal weather once again. I'd wish that spring would come early, with sunshine and warmer weather. And I'd wish that autumn would present sooner and chillier, so that customers would look to boots and booties, rather than wearing sandals until November. It is indeed unfortunate that we do not control the weather." Mark Jubelirer, Reyers "I hope we can further strengthen the partnership between independent footwear retailers and our vendors. By working collaboratively, we can aim for a more balanced and equitable playing field, ensuring mutual success in an ever-evolving market. This was a passion for a friend/mentor of mine Bill Van Dis. I hope to continue to carry this torch for him." Jill R. Snyder, Snyder Shoe Corp. "I wish for brands that are still looking only for DTC growth to take a hard look at the independents who are the backbone of this industry. We are still the first stop for customers looking to explore, try, and purchase your brand. We can do the business in our stores, we just keep getting overlooked or rejected for reasons that we feel are not justified." Stephanie Stout, Stout's Footwear "Continued innovations of styles from multiple brands. Newness creates excitement, which in turn creates customers in our store ready to experience the excellent service we provide." Michael Wittenstein, Karavel Shoes "Better partnership from brands — that they be less of a competitor, and respect and support the independent brick-and- mortar channel, using their financial and marketing power to drive traffic to brick- and-mortar through geo-targeting. Most brands work very hard to drive traffic to their own websites and it wouldn't take much to call out their brick-and-mortar dealers in the markets that they are advertising in." Ryan Stauffer, Market Street Shoes "My wish is that we have a stellar year. We are all overdue! And that people continue coming back to brick-and-mortar stores for their shopping experience. ere really isn't anything better!" Brenda Felger, Felger's Footwear "Bring back more paper. Paper catalogs, paper invoices. Our customers, especially the older ones, still like paper catalogs. We get a better response from our direct mailers over email blasts. Digital invoices can sometimes go to Spam or Junk." Bruce Wesley, Wesley's Shoes "Originality. We don't want the same thing over and over again. We want new, fresh product that is well made and feels great." Julie Pierce, Valley Sole "Chiappetta Shoes has been working on a top-secret project that has been stirring around the office for over a decade. 2025 is the year to make it happen. We will let everyone know once it's up and running. e focus is on offering everyday Pedorthics in a scalable way online to the masses. Finally having the digital infrastructure is key in making dreams come true. Speaking of dreams, my brother Nicky and I learned early on one person isn't able to do everything so having a motivated, entrepreneurial, and activated crew is another wish for 2025. Keeping good people and putting them in the right position is key to building a business." Anthony Chiappetta, Chiappetta Shoes n Christian Williams, web designer and salesperson, Wesley's Shoes. Solely Comfort Footwear, Winchester, VA. 2024 GOLD MEDAL SERVICE AWARD SPONSORS RETAIL

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