You’ve come from the work-out studio to the pet store to buy some Nutro Natural Choice gourmet food for your pet.
Next, is the Heartland Footwear Shoppes to buy some waterproof boots. And if the price is right, you might just get a pair of comfortable walking shoes as well.
As you enter the footwear shop, you smell the unmistakable aroma of shoe leather. There on the walls and in various kiosks throughout the store are rows upon rows of new shoes and boots. They gleam in the light cast by the overhead fluorescents. Two full-length wall mirrors stare out opulently from either side of the store. The thick soft carpeting feels good even with your old clunkers on under your tired and sore feet.
Dress shoes, casual shoes, comfort shoes, clogs, sandals, loafers, wing-tips, flip-flops, sneakers, running shoes, hiking shoes, cowboy boots, work boots, outdoor boots, waterproof boots. As your eyes take in the various brands, you recognize the names like old friends. Among the shoe brands, you reacquaint yourself with six of the best known shoe makers around- Rockport, Bostonian, Johnson & Murphy, Florsheim, Crocs, & Hushpuppies.
As you draw closer to the rows of boots proudly displayed on the left wall of the store, you realize that Heartland Footwear also carries some of the most widely established boot makers in the world. Durango, Irish Setter, Red Wing, Rocky, Danner, Timberland, Laredo, UGG, & Wolverine.
To be sure, most footwear is mass-produced, but a few manufacturers are returning to the old ways of making shoes & boots, stitching leather pieces together to make custom fit footwear. Timberland, Vans, Nike, and Converse now let you design your own boot or shoe on-line.
As a matter of fact, if you drop by the Timberland Boot Shop, you can watch their skilled craftsmen custom-make boots for their customers. And while you are there, you might as well pick up a pair of their Men's Waterproof Earthkeeper Boots™Boots. They are made of recycled materials and designed to lerave a smaller footprint than traditional boots.
The salesman, a plump and jolly fellow, approaches. He is carrying a Brannock Device; otherwise know as a foot sizer. From behind a curtain at the back of the store, the shopkeeper emerges, an old and frail man in his seventies. In the back, you hear the sound of the sharpening wheel being turned.
“May I help you find something?” the salesman asks.
