Where are your current premises located and how many people do you employ? Do you have a high turnover of staff? Tell us about your shop, the local area, your customers and their requirements? We opened our first store in Stratford upon


Avon, in August 2011. My husband and I work together along with Hazel, who works 3 – 4 days per week. As well as local customers with problem feet, Stratford upon Avon of course, draws thousands of tourists every year who are interested in Shakespeare’s birthplace. Many come in and find us and then come back if they are from the UK. We offer specialist foot and footwear knowledge and they will travel miles for this!


Do you have an online shop/website and do you use social networking for business? We are developing our online Finn Comfort


shop this year, but are very much a destination fitting outlet primarily. I do use social networking websites such as FaceBook and Twitter to promote both the profile of ShoeMed.


How are you finding the footwear market currently? For us, the footwear market we are in is


growing – we have opened a specialist outlet in the height of a recession but have seen continual growth at a steady rate.


What’s selling well? Any particular trends? Which are your best selling footwear brands – and why? We sell Easy B very well, many podiatrists


know of the brand from the work that DB Shoes do to promote their product. We also sell Finn Comfort from Germany as a more specialist product when required. They are much higher price point, but when needed people will purchase. Many people are seeking other options to have a personalized service when they have problem feet, rather than buying from the internet., or when NHS shoes either fail or are not available to them. They love the fact we measure, fit and keep a fitting record for their future purchases.


Does your shop sell other items besides footwear, bags, gloves, tights, socks, below the ankle products? We sell No Elastic socks and other specialist


socks, and Healthy Back Bags, also some ready made foot orthotic devices.


Any difficulties/problems? Because we offer a personalized service, we


often spend a lot of time with each customer, but as a result our repeat business is already very strong. We build a relationship for life, not just focusing on one sale.


Tel: 01789 299 103 Email: info@shoemed.co.uk


Any tips on stock offers, novel ideas for clearing lines or advice for independent shoe retailers who might be feeling the pinch? Nowadays you have to specialize I believe to


succeed over internet sales. We are ready to work with any other shoe shops who want to place a point of difference in their existing business and make some additional quality income.We distribute Finn Comfort footwear in the UK.


What is your favourite men’s footwear brand/manufacturer – ditto ladies/children’s brand – and why? Our favourite mens brand is Easy B and


Finn Comfort, and for ladies also Easy B, Finn Comfort and Carl Semler. Each of these offer widths, different last shapes and room for foot orthotics.


How do you select your products – which criteria do you use / what are your customers looking for? We will only put in another brand if it offers


width fittings, high quality and room for foot orthotics.


Which footwear/fashion shows do you attend, how do you rate them? We attend GDS twice a year in Dusseldorf,


and also MODA. Andrew King from Carl Semler looks after us very well as an agent.


Have you always had a passion for footwear? How many pairs of shoes do you own? Do you have a favourite pair? I most certainly have a passion for functional,


but fashionable footwear as I use foot orthotics myself – and I firmly believe this is the growth market in footwear for more ‘mature’ adults. I am wearing Finn Comfort today.


Any famous customers? My best claim to fame is a customer from


Johannesburg, South Africa who bought Finn Comfort, from us, as her sister in London told her about us, so she decided she had to come for a visit quickly and came to see us in Stratford upon Avon! She bought two pairs to help with her ankle pain and loves them.


And, the next step? Any plans for the future, new lines, retail systems/new technology, etc? Our next step is to grow our business, either


with our own stores, or working with License Agreements with other shoe shops to expand the ShoeMed unique concept. There are more than enough people in the UK looking for comfortable shoes, along with a fantastic service from trained, passionate team members. We are just about to take on another part time staff member to help us achieve this goal.


Web: www.shoemed.co.uk JUNE/JULY 2013 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • 31


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