Shoe store chain coming to Valley
April 10th, 2008, 9:51 am · Post a Comment · posted by davewoodfill
Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse, a discount retailer of trendy shoe brands, is heading for the Valley, but officials aren’t saying when.
Kent Gonnerman, director or real estate for Rack Room Shoes (Off Broadway’s parent company) said Thursday that the shoe retailer had set its sights on the Valley.
Gonnerman said company officials are very familiar with the market and their Rack Room stores have proven to be very popular among consumers here.
“Phoenix is an obvious choice,” he said.
Gonnerman first told the news to a group of retail and real estate officials at a shopping center industry conference in Phoenix last month.
“My sense is it’s only a matter of time before that concept becomes up and running in the Phoenix market, but it’s not here today and there are no imminent plans, at least in 2008, to enter the Phoenix market,” he told the audience.
The stores, which range in size from about 18,000 to 20,000 square-feet, each carry between 30,000 and 50,000 pairs of mens and womens shoes and are similar in size and concept to DSW, another discount shoe retailer.
The Georgia-based retailer sells mens and womens shoes at 25 to 60 percent off regular retail prices in department stores, according to the company’s Web site.
Gonnerman also said Thursday that a deal is in the works to open a Rack Room Shoes store in Fiesta Mall.
Both Rack Room and Off Broadway are discount shoe stores, however, Off Broadway tends to sell products that are more pricy and “fashion forward” in terms of trends and styles, he said.