How Reyers Stays a Step Ahead

By John S. DeMott. Reported by Rosemary Byrnes/Sharon

Luring thousands of customers to a shoe store in Sharon, Pa.

Another sale looms at Reyers Shoe Store in Sharon, Pa., and that is a little like saying another leaf is falling from another tree in autumn. Reyers has sales almost constantly. Next week, for example, is the fall sale. There are more sales before Thanksgiving and before Christmas. Finally comes the January clearance, in which everything that did not get sold in the previous sales goes on sale.

These price-cutting binges are a sign not of desperation but of acutely smart merchandising. Though Sharon is an old steel town, with a population of just 19,057 in a county with an unemployment rate of 13%, Reyers has grown to become one of the largest independent shoe stores in the U.S. It draws 1,000 to 3,000 customers a day, some coming from Pittsburgh and Cleveland, 75 miles away. This year, its 99th, it will record annual sales of $6 million to $8 million (vs. $355,000 for the average shoe retailer).

Reyers advertises heavily, spending about $130,000 a year on television, radio, newspapers and coupons. But its success is due mainly to its enormous inventory: 125,000 pairs of shoes, ranging from Hush Puppies and Thorn McAn to Bally and Anne Klein, and 376 styles of athletic shoes. The store stocks 150 patterns in men's size 13AA alone, and women's sizes run from 3 to 13 in eleven widths from AAAAA to EEE. Such selection, plus enthusiastic salespeople, generates intense customer loyalty. So far this year, Cecelia Veal has made three trips to Reyers from Akron, 65 miles away, each time buying three pairs of shoes. Says she: "I'm a shoe freak. I love it here."

This shoe supermarket is the creation of Harry Jubelirer, 65. He and his father, a shoe-store owner, went into business together in Homestead, Pa., after World War II. The younger Jubelirer was so laced up in the shoe business that he and his wife Natalie spent their honeymoon in Puerto Rico visiting shoe stores. In January 1954, the father and son bought Reyers, which had operated profitably in Sharon since 1885. Jubelirer bought more fashionable shoes and later quadrupled floor space, a risky move because Sharon's downtown was already on the verge of decline. "I was scared to death," Jubelirer recalls. "I figured I had to do $70,000 more in sales, or I had made a terrible mistake."

Despite its fast growth, Reyers still manages to keep service on a personal level, even on Saturdays, when the store is chaotic. Customers select styles from shoes on display, but then one of Reyers' 88 salespeople is there to help with the fitting. One of them is Larry Joltin, 41, the hottest shoe salesman in America. Joltin sells nearly $500,000 worth of men's shoes a year, roughly a pair every 15 minutes. In 1982, he walked away with the National Shoe Retailers Association award. His $424,848 worth of sales put him so far ahead of everyone else that the contest has not been held since. Like the rest of the sales staff, Joltin does not work on commission but shares in the store's profits.

Last week Reyers was expanding again, opening a new boot store around the corner with six to eight employees. Though Jubelirer is gradually turning operations over to his sons Mark, 31, and Steven, 28, he still worries about every move. Says he: "I have to buy heel heights, colors and styles long in advance of the season, and be at the fashion whim of customers. The odds are stacked against me. Every season is a gamble. Sometimes I think my money would be better in CDs."

There is a pause, and the truth emerges. "But I love shoes."

With reporting by Rosemary Byrnes/Sharon