If the shoe fits
Sole survivor: "Made in the USA" Allen Edmonds opens first Houston-area shoestore
Market Street in The Woodlands was buzzing Thursday night as Allen Edmonds hosted a wine and cheese reception to celebrate the opening of its first free-standing Houston-area store. Fanboys of non-frivolous fashion had been arriving — and leaving with bags full of shoes — all day.
Known as “The Great American Shoe Company” because virtually all its footwear is made in the USA, Allen Edmonds just might be what men want (from retail, anyway): Luxury without an outrageous price, and sophistication without stuffiness. KILT-610 AM morning host John P. Lopez said he trekked to The Woodlands opening because he loves the brand’s quality.
Mainly known for shoes, which run from $110 to $550, with most in the $250-$350 range, the retailer also features socks, belts, Vineyard Vines ties, Korchmar briefcases, Davek umbrellas and unique Tokens & Icons cufflinks made of train and subway tokens or baseball and football leather from specific ball games.
In addition, the store offers “recrafting” — a shoe repair service that extends wear into decades — and color/sole/size customization for select styles. Golf shoes from the new Honors Collection include cork footbeds made to mold to match the wearer’s sole, and removable cleats; the shoes come with a tool to accomplish the green-to-scene change in minutes.
Guests chatted with down-to-earth President & CEO Paul D. Grangaard, who flew in from Allen Edmonds' Wisconsin headquarters for the occasion. Midwesterner Grangaard met native Houstonian Margot Hagstette when both were students at Stanford University. He told me how he’d won over his grammatically persnickety father-in-law-to-be by first making par on Hole 1 at Houston Country Club, then following that performance by asking, “Is it, ‘I like it?’ or ‘I like them?’” about a new food he’d just eaten – grits.
Grangaard will be flying to Houston again soon: Another Allen Edmonds store opens in the River Oaks Shopping Center on May 12.