A sheepskin boot and an oversized running shoe have more in common than you think. Inside the company that turned two niche ideas into UGG and HOKA at global scale.
Footwear etc. is a family-owned California comfort-shoe retailer that has been fitting customers since 1986. It grew out of Rapp's Shoes, a Palo Alto family store dating to 1948, and today runs about 10 stores across the state plus a Shopify-powered online shop. The company specializes in comfort and foot-health footwear from brands like Hoka, Birkenstock, Dansko, Naot, Aetrex, Vionic and Mephisto, with a simple guiding rule: if it's uncomfortable, they don't sell it.