Local Business

Sole of the community

Brown’s Shoe Fit celebrates 30 years of service

When Craig Jarrard opened his Fort Dodge shoe store in 1996, he had one employee and 3,000 square feet of space. Thirty years later, he has a staff of 18, a much larger store, and customers whose families have been shopping with him for three generations.

Ask him what accounts for that growth, and Jarrard always comes back to people.

"What we've built with our customers, and what our customers have built with us is the magic," said Jarrard, owner of Brown's Shoe Fit in Fort Dodge.

As the store celebrates 30 years in business, Jarrard sees its history as a collection of relationships with customers, employees, area employers and the surrounding communities. Those connections, Jarrard said, have helped the business grow steadily while giving him opportunities to bring people together beyond the sales floor.

Jarrard's understanding of community began in his father's shoe store in Charles City, where he started selling shoes in junior high, watching his father balance running a business with serving on the city council and being involved in the community.

Wanting to own his own shoe store, Jarrard entered Brown's training program and worked for his father before moving to Cheyenne, Wyoming. He later operated a store in northwestern Oklahoma, where working in a small town reinforced the importance of knowing the people around him.

"I learned how valuable it was to be part of the community and to connect with the employers of the area, and then just connect with the consumer also," said Jarrard.

The opportunity to open a new store brought him to Fort Dodge in June 1996. On July 5, he and one employee who had transferred from another location opened the doors in a space carved out of Bob Reed's appliance store.

Building the business meant learning what people in the area needed, particularly the footwear they depended on to get through a workday.

"The heart of our business was really work wear," said Jarrard.

According to Jarrard, that included safety-toe shoes for industrial workers, but also work footwear for those employed at banks, grocery stores, hospitals, and other businesses. Whether customers needed work boots, athletic shoes or casual footwear, Jarrard wanted to focus on what they wore in their everyday lives.

Relationships with Fort Dodge area employers became an important part of Brown's Shoe Fit's growth. Jarrard recalled the arrival of Cargill and CJ Bio America as significant moments for the business. He also pointed to a long-term relationship with Elanco.

Serving that workforce meant looking beyond Fort Dodge's city limits. Jarrard made a deliberate effort to reach customers in Webster City, Humboldt, Rockwell City, Manson, and the smaller communities throughout the area.

The store expanded along with those relationships, adding about 1,500 square feet in 2006 and taking over more space when Reed left the business in 2015.

Inside the store, Jarrard was building another community: the employees who would help care for those customers.

Today, the staff includes those who started working there while in school and stayed connected even after moving into other careers. Some even continue to work part time. Amanda Specht will celebrate 27 years with the store in November.

Jarrard credits that continuity, and employees' desire to be there, with helping customers feel welcome and keeping them coming back.

"The biggest part of growth is building the best team of people to take care and help the customers," said Jarrard.

Those relationships have become especially valuable as the ways people buy shoes have changed.

When Jarrard opened the store, footwear manufacturers largely relied on retailers like Brown's Shoe Fit to get their products to customers. Now, those same brands sell directly to consumers online, creating competition alongside companies such as Amazon and Zappos.

Jarrard knows the business must evolve, but he also sees a continuing role for the store where customers can try on shoes and work with someone who knows them.

"We get to know the community," said Jarrard. " We get to know the people, and that's important. That's a differentiator."

Many customers have been shopping at Brown's since it opened. Seeing their children and grandchildren become customers is something that means a lot to Jarrard.

"It's hard to put the amount of appreciation I have into words," he said.

That appreciation for the community also helped shape an idea that has brought residents together to the store without asking them to buy anything.

In April 2014, Jarrard launched Fit Night. New sidewalks in the neighborhood presented an opportunity to encourage people to get outside and use the trails the City of Fort Dodge had invested in. The store became a gathering place and a consistent reason for neighbors and strangers to come together.

"It wasn't about buying shoes," said Jarrard. "It was about just coming together as a community."

Held on the third Thursday of each month from May through October, Fit Night has grown beyond Fort Dodge to eight communities.

Its purpose centers on community, movement and connection.

For Jarrard, expanding Fit Night is one of the possibilities that makes the future of Brown's Shoe Fit exciting. He wants to continue building the local event while helping the concept reach other communities

Jarrard admits he doesn't spend much time looking back, as retail requires planning for the next season. But he hopes the next 30 years will continue to be about customer care and bringing members of the community together.

"I think we'll always be able to connect with people and care about people," said Jarrard. "And then as long as we do that, we can sell them shoes."