Additional
Articles for Sept/Oct 2004 Issue
The oldest shoe store in America
Story
and Photos by Mary Ruoff
The summer brings an influx of tourists
to Colburn Shoe Store in downtown Belfast. Some are lured by the “Oldest
Shoe Store in America” sign
on the brick facade, others by angled display windows that funnel shoppers
into the store. After crossing the threshold, often with kids in tow,
vacationers feel like they’ve stepped back into their own childhood.
Philip Horne, left, and his uncle, Albert “Ben” Smalley, center, outside Colburn Shoe Store in the about 1940. Smalley was the store’s third owner. Now the “oldest shoe store in America,” it’s owned and operated by Smalley’s grandnephew Brian Horne.
“We get a lot of tourists who come in here in the summer and almost
look at this as a museum. ‘This reminds me of the shoe store when
I was a kid’—we hear that daily in the summer,” said
Brian Horne, the sixth owner (fourth in his family) of Colburn, founded
in 1832 and located at 79 Main Street since 1905.
Back then the store purchased the pair of rolling wood ladders still
used to reach shoe boxes stacked to the ceiling on long shelves. As a
ladder is pushed to the desired spot, small wheels clatter along one
of the wood poles running the length of the store on opposite walls.
Ornate metal encases larger wheels that roll along the floor.
A wood-rimmed glass display case greets shoppers as they enter the narrow
storefront. In the rear are old pictures of the store and vintage shoe
ads, including one of Lucille Ball touting colorful canvas “Summerettes
by Ball-Band.” Shoes are arrayed atop deep built-in drawers on
one wall, used to store flip-flops and slippers that arrive in bulk.
While nostalgia gets tourists in the door, it doesn’t send them
out with shoe boxes in hand. Nor does it keep summer and year-round residents
coming back. For that, Colburn relies on strong customer service, quality
brands (Rockport, Teva, Josef Seibel, to name a few), and a stock that’s
in step with Maine’s laid-back lifestyle. The bargain basement
and sidewalk sale bin—a downtown fixture spring through fall, protected
by an awning if it rains—helps, too.
Brian
Horne, owner of Colburn Shoe Store and the building that houses it. His
family recently sold their home and has been living on the third floor
of the storefront until their new house is completed.
Horne’s great uncle was a sales clerk at the store
for years before buying it in 1922 from Augustus Colburn, son of founder
W.T. Colburn. His uncle took over next, then his dad. After graduating
from college in 1979, Horne wanted out of Belfast and went to work for
a Thom McAn shoe store in Manchester, N.H. Two years later, he moved
back to work for his father, who sold him the business in 1986.
“I got the feel of what a mall experience is and am so happy to
be in a small town,” said Horne, 48. “Being a smaller shoe
store in a small town, it’s hard to carry everything that everyone
wants. We’ve shied away a lot from the real trendy styles. We have
a more conservative, casual store.”
Because fashion trends come more slowly to small towns, it’s harder
for a store like Colburn to keep hot styles in stock. Suppliers may be
out of a shoe by the time it’s in demand here. Not that the store,
which sells about 9,000 pairs of shoes annually, ignores trends. The
Ugg sheepskin boots that are all the rage sold well here early on, and
Colburn ordered more months in advance. They had yet to arrive by early
fall, but a great selection of Ugg leather and suede slip-ons and boots
were in.
Colburn Shoe Store in on Belfast’s Main Street just below High Street, the store’s third location since it opened downtown in 1832, selling boots, shoes and other goods. After moving to High Street, where it operated until 1905, the store increasingly specialized in footwear.
The Ugg line typifies the stylish, finely made, comfortable
footwear that is Colburn’s stock in trade. With fall’s arrival, clogs
and boots of all sorts abound. There’s a nice choice of kids shoes,
including bubble gum-colored Ugg look-alikes and fur-trimmed clogs for
young girls. Beaded thongs and garden clogs still hung on floor racks,
beside knit caps and wool socks. Work boots were stacked near the running
shoes. The store carries strappy wedding footwear and a handful of dress
shoes. It also dyes shoes and repairs Birkenstock sandals.
More frustrating than waiting for popular styles to arrive is that some
shoe manufacturers have stopped supplying the store because its orders
are too small. For example, Converse doubled the minimum annual order
total from $10,000 to $20,000, prompting Horne to drop the brand.
Such trends make it hard to say if Colburn will still be here in another
quarter century, much less another 172 years. But Horne was quick to
point out that he has strong relationships with many vendors, including
New Balance, Red Wing and Merrell. “They have excellent sales staffs,” he
said. “They haven’t forgotten us.”
Used to retrieve shoe boxes for the last 100 years or so, the rolling ladders at Colburn Shore Store are topped with a set of wheels that roll along a pole and another pair, encased in decorative metal, that twirl along the floor.
Horne wants to follow the lead of retailers large and small by using
software to track sales and send customer mailings. He occasionally
joins with other Maine independents to purchase bulk orders at discounts
from wholesalers.
The United State has an estimated 15,000 independent shoe stores,
with the average owner operating two or three, said Bill Boettge,
president of the National Shoe Retailers Association in Columbia,
Maryland, which represents independent shoe retailers. A survey found
that slightly more than half of members’ stores are in downtowns
or neighborhood retail areas. When queried about their competitive
advantages, 41 percent said quality service was No. 1.
Asked this question, Horne’s response is the same. Good service,
he said, hinges on knowing your products as well as your customers. He’s
relaxed as he talks about his business in the small office at the
back of the store but fidgets as a doorbell signals a customer, concerned
his salesperson may need help.
Near a grouping of charming old shoe ads, a sign points the way to Colburn Shoe Store’s bargain basement.
Boettge couldn’t confirm Colburn’s claim to
fame as America’s
oldest shoe store, but he was unaware of competing ones and said
it’s
definitely among the oldest. A shoe store in Rhode Island was the
oldest in the country until it closed around 1980, prompting the
National Shoe Fair of America to conduct a survey that found Colburn
now filled those shoes, Horne explained. A plaque from the industry
group hangs on the wall.
For decades Colburn has competed with chains less than an hour away
at Bangor Mall. The store lost business for a time after Renys discount
store and Olympia Sports came to Belfast. Colburn’s brands are
steps above Wal-Mart’s, but the retail giant will likewise siphon
off sales if it opens here. “But we’ve always seemed to bounce
back,” said Horne. “That’s because of what we’ve
always had—good quality, fair prices and good service.”
On a recent fall morning, Wendi Ashey, who’s worked at Colburn
13 years, helped Charlotte Peters select a pair of walking shoes. “They’ve
taken care of me for years,” said the Belfast senior citizen. “It’s
just a wonderful store. Belfast loves it.” That afternoon resident
Leif Weaver, 36, stopped in for the first time, buying running shoes
he’ll use to train for a marathon and chatting with Horne about
racing. “It’s good to shop downtown if you can,” he
said.
A blue collar town when Horne was growing up, Belfast went through hard
times as its shoe and poultry plants closed in the 1980s. In the 1990s,
credit card giant MBNA opened an operations center here. Well-off retirees
and self-employed types have moved to town in growing numbers, attracted
by the lifestyle, harbor locale, acclaimed Greek Revival architecture,
and an arts community that sprouted after back-to-the-landers arrived
in the 1970s.
All the changes have helped Colburn’s bottom line. “Business
is good. It’s not outstanding, but it’s good. I’m pleased
with the support the area gives us,” said Horne, adding that
even for a small town Belfast is big on patronizing sole proprietors.
Depending on the season, Colburn employs three to five people, including
Horne. His four siblings worked in the business growing up, but most
were embarked on other careers when he took over. Will his two sons,
in high school and college, follow in his footsteps? Horne isn’t
sure and doesn’t want them to feel pressured to do so.
Asked what he likes about owning a small business, he replies: “I’ve
learned to take the bitter with the sweet. It’s great being your
own boss—but there’s no one else to blame.”
FMI: 79 Main St., Belfast, ME 04915, Phone: 207-338-1934 or 877-338-1934,
Hours: Mon.-Wed. and Sat., 9 to 5; Thurs. and Fri., 9 to 7; Sun., 10
to 3, www.downtownme.com/colburnshoe
Mary Ruoff <mruoff@adelphia.net> is
a freelance writer in Belfast.