Company Profile · Consumer Retail · Foot Health
Footwear etc.
The California family that built a shoe store on a single, stubborn idea: comfort first, everything else second.
San Jose, California · Family-owned · ~370 employees
The California family that built a shoe store on a single, stubborn idea: comfort first, everything else second.
Most retailers grow by adding. Footwear etc. grew by subtracting. The California comfort-shoe retailer has spent nearly four decades editing its shelves down to a single test - does the shoe feel good on your foot? - and its guiding line has become something of a company creed: "If it's uncomfortable, we simply don't sell it."
The company's roots run deeper than its 1986 founding. Its story begins with Rapp's Shoes, a family-run store opened in Palo Alto in 1948 that sold footwear for men, women and children. In the early 1990s, the family made a counterintuitive move. They closed the larger store, walked across the street, and reopened as a smaller, more focused shop built around a then-emerging category: comfort footwear. That store became Footwear etc., and the family has run it ever since.
Today the business operates roughly ten retail locations spread across California, from San Diego in the south to Palo Alto and the greater Bay Area, paired with an online store. It is still family-owned, and it still trades on the same combination that launched it: careful curation, knowledgeable in-store fitting, and old-fashioned customer service. It reports serving hundreds of thousands of customers and employs around 370 people.
Footwear etc.'s customers aren't only chasing style. Many arrive with a problem - a heel that aches by afternoon, a bunion that rules out half the shelf, the nerve sensitivity of neuropathy or diabetes. The company merchandises around those needs, carrying dedicated diabetic-friendly and orthotic-friendly collections that most mainstream shoe stores skip entirely.
That focus on foot and leg health - shock absorption, arch support, anatomic lasts, seamless non-binding uppers - is where the store earns its repeat business. For everyday shoppers it's a well-edited comfort selection; for people managing a foot condition, it's a specialist that speaks their language.
Footwear etc. curates product against specific foot-health needs. The chart below is an illustration of how prominently these needs feature in its merchandising, not a market metric.
Men's and women's athletic, casual, dress, sandals, slippers and boots - curated so every pair meets the comfort test.
Anatomic lasts and support-first designs for plantar fasciitis, bunions, heel pain and leg discomfort.
Seamless, non-binding shoes, socks and insoles built to reduce friction and pressure for sensitive feet.
Aftermarket support from Superfeet, Powerstep and Aetrex Lynco, plus socks and shoe-care products.
The full brand assortment on Shopify Plus, with detailed product info and free shipping over a threshold.
Trained, solution-oriented staff in stores and on the phone - the human layer a search box can't replace.
In a footwear market crowded by discount chains, direct-to-consumer brand stores and endless online catalogs, Footwear etc. competes on the opposite of infinite choice. Its edge is the edit - only comfortable, supportive product makes it onto the floor - reinforced by fitters who diagnose fit rather than push volume.
The model is multi-channel specialty retail. Revenue comes from selling third-party comfort and foot-health brands through its California stores and a Shopify Plus online shop. It doesn't chase lowest price; it competes on curation, expertise and problem-solving. Estimated annual revenue is around $18 million.
That positions it between the big-box shoe sellers and the pure e-commerce players: a specialist with physical fitting benches and a modern storefront running on Shopify Plus, VueJS, Klaviyo and SearchSpring. Where competitors like The Walking Company, DSW, Zappos and brand-owned Hoka and Birkenstock stores each win on scale or single-brand depth, Footwear etc. bets on curated comfort across brands - plus a person who knows how a shoe should fit.
A family-run store selling men's, women's and children's footwear lays the foundation.
The comfort-focused retail concept begins operating in California.
The family shrinks the store and refocuses on comfort brands, cementing the identity.
Growth to multiple Bay Area stores and new locations in San Diego.
Roughly 10 stores statewide plus a Shopify Plus online shop, ~370 employees and ~$18M revenue.
The comfort category has quietly become the story of modern footwear. Aging demographics, the casualization of dress, and the mainstream rise of once-niche brands like Hoka and Birkenstock have moved "function-first" shoes from the margins to the center. Footwear etc. bet on that shelf early.
Its expertise is narrow and deep: knowing which brands and lasts relieve which problems, and fitting them to real feet. That knowledge, built over nearly 40 years, is the moat - and the reason the store was named "Best Shoe Store in Silicon Valley" by Metroactive editors.
Comfort and foot-health footwear for men and women - athletic, casual, dress, sandals, slippers and boots - plus insoles and accessories from brands like Hoka, Birkenstock, Dansko, Aetrex and Vionic.
It's headquartered in San Jose, California and operates roughly 10 stores across the state from San Diego to the Bay Area, plus an online shop at footwearetc.com.
Footwear etc. was established in 1986, with roots in Rapp's Shoes, a Palo Alto family store founded in 1948.
Yes. It specializes in footwear for plantar fasciitis, bunions, heel pain, neuropathy and diabetes, including orthotic-friendly and diabetic-friendly collections.
It curates only comfortable, supportive footwear - its rule is that if a shoe is uncomfortable, they won't sell it - paired with trained in-store fitting and old-fashioned customer service.