Managing Editor
Workspace: Mark Lewis and Phil’s Shoes
Phil’s Shoes at 44th and Pearl streets, in its third generation of Lewis family ownership, will mark a half-century in business next year. The fourth generation, Danielle Lewis, heads off to Florida State University soon but in the meantime, continues in the family tradition of investing body and sole into the shoe, purse and hat emporium.
Mark Lewis holds his feet to the fire everyday to keep the business founded by his grandfather grounded in style and in the groove.
“If you can’t find it at Phil’s Shoes, you can’t find it,” says Lewis. That includes the latest styles and sizes from 4 to 14.
Phil’s Shoes is a family business. In 2006, Lewis bought Phil’s Shoes from his father, Sam, who had previously bought it about 1976 from his dad, Phil Lewis.
“Each generation had to buy it,” said Mark Lewis recently at his store at 44th and Pearl streets. He said his dad did the same thing. “He felt I would be more dedicated to the store than if it was handed to me. He’s right.”
After Lewis bought the business four years ago, “within six months, the bottom fell out” of the economy. But he cut expenses, stuck to his core business and continued to focus on customer service.
Plus, he had the advantage of having his dad’s 35 years of experience handy. Sam Lewis bought the Pearl Plaza shopping center, which houses Phil’s, and he is generally just steps away.
Phil’s carries 18,000 pairs of shoes, 1,300 handbags and about 140 hats, all in a 4,000-square-foot store. That’s down from the 23,000 pairs of shoes Phil’s carried before the recession.
While customers live as far away as California, Alaska, New Jersey and New York, the core customer base is Northside, Arlington and Southside. Lewis said the customer base is predominantly African- American and he serves much of church trade, especially the first ladies, who are the pastors’ wives and try to be the sharpest-dressed women in their congregations.
Customers also include career women, prom teens and others. Many bring in an outfit and ask Lewis and his staff to find the perfect shoes, purse and hat to match.
“They can bring in a suit and I can accessorize head to toe, whether it’s flamboyant, understated, sexy or everday,” he says.
Customers generally range in age from 25 to 90, although a 100-year-old buys there, too. One 72-year-old “won’t wear anything lower than three-inch heels.” He said a woman came in June 8 who claimed to be 109. She bought a white, low-heeled shoe to wear to church.
The prom girls come for what daughter Danielle, who just turned 18, says are the “one-in-a-million” shoe.
Another Phil’s Shoes feature is the semi-annual one-cent sale. Customers can choose from about 10,000 pairs of shoes on the racks and pick up another pair for a penny. The sale takes place twice a year, starting Dec. 26 and July 5, and lasts 10 days to two weeks. This is the 34th year of the sales.
Phil’s is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, although Lewis is perpetually on the job, including going to market and studying fashion magazines.
“I’m shopping for shoes 365 days a year,” he says.
Sure sources of inspiration are his customers, who “have no qualms about finding me and telling me I’m messing up,” he says.
He can’t oversaturate popular styles and colors because he must satisfy customers’ needs for individual looks. Yet he also must make sure he has enough of the popular items.
“I walk a fine line,” he said.
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