Surviving as a business downtown for 30 years hasn’t been for the faint of heart.
Kerstin Grenier has seen it all over the years as she heads into a fourth decade with her Footloose shoe store.
There’s always been the homeless issue, along with panhandling and parking problems and high rents.
And let’s not forget the recessions, never-ending pressures from department stores and the multiple banners of massive shoe chains and the pull of consumers to suburban shopping malls.
So what’s the secret?
“Well, we’ve always had good quality merchandise,” said Grenier, who runs Footloose at 637 Fort St. with her daughter Aleisha.
Indeed, shoe lines from Spain, Portugal, Italy and Japan — although more expensive — have buoyed Footloose as consumers opt for quality lines that set fashion trends and tend to fit better and last longer.
Keith Gage-Cole, who founded Footloose in Market Square and now runs his own shoe store at Fort and Rockland, said quality inventory has been the key for his ex-wife and daughter.
“They are really good buyers — as good as the very best in the business,” Gage-Cole said. “They know what to look for. They know what people will like. They know what will sell.”
The mother-daughter team have added handbags, accessories such as scarves and some jewelry over the years, and augmented shoe lines from European and Canadian manufacturers.
“I’ve been going to buying shows since I was in a stroller,” laughed Aleisha, 28, who is helping her mother with newer marketing techniques, such as social media. She’s working on attracting younger shoppers, who are more sensitive to prices but still want fashionable footwear.
“Women have always had a lust-love affair with shoes,” Aleisha said. “We want styles that bring in the whole range of ages, and I think we’re doing that well.”
Kerstin, 56, said they work well together in ordering at the major shoe buying shows. “We try to look for unique styling — we’re a little more fashion forward,” Kerstin said. “You won’t see the ‘fast-fashion’ shoes that tend to come and then go quickly.”
The Footloose website calls the store a retailer that “treads the urban jungle with confidence.
“Whatever path you choose, our style ensures you’ll never have a dull shoe day. From high-end imports to comfortable West Coast footwear, we have you covered. We don’t do dull.”
Footloose carries about 50 brands — from Birkenstocks and Doc Martens to John Fluevog and Pepe Monjo.
“We really do have a unique collection of shoes — the kind you aren’t going to find in your mall shoe store,” Kerstin said. “And the ultimate goal with that quality is comfort for the customer, even in heels.”
Footloose was launched in 1983 — a year before the popular movie of the same name — by Gage-Cole and Grenier.
She had moved to Victoria in 1979 from her hometown of Burlington, Ont., after visiting with friends a few years before.
Like so many, she said she fell in love with the city and climate and eventually met Gage-Cole, who had a downtown leather and shoe shop called Renaissance.
They operated out of Market Square until 1990, when they moved to the Bay Centre, just across the street from the current location, where Footloose has been rooted for the past 13 years.
