Pedestrian Shops Blog

The Pedestrian Shops shoe store is celebrating our 40th Birthday on Saturday, August 21, by buying frozen yogurt from céfiore for the first 1,000 people who walk in to our downtown or Village shop and wish us a Happy Birthday.

1970 was a big year in Boulder’s history, marking not only the birth of the Pedestrian Shops, but also the nation’s first Earth Day, the opening of the Watts-Hardy milk processing plant that is now the Dairy Center for The Arts and the founding of Western Disposal.

Said Richard Polk, one of Pedestrian Shops’ founders, “It’s been great to make Boulder comfortable for 40 years. My daughters, Lauren and Zoe, and I are looking forward to the weeklong party.”

Polk and his then-partner, Tony Chirikos, originally started selling Earth Shoes out of a pickup truck in the late 1960s. Their first customers were employees at BrilligWorks bookstore. After graduating from the truck to an old Bookmobile, they opened a store at 1334 Pearl Street, across from the Courthouse, before the Downtown Mall when Pearl was still a street with traffic and parking. In the same block were Cotangent, where Anna Zapp and Rosie Cabas made cowboy shirts for rock stars, and the legendary Fred’s restaurant, where host Fred Shelton sang and played guitar to entertain his customers. In the 1980s Pedestrian moved to our current downtown location at 1425 Pearl. We also have had a store in the Village Shopping Center for 30 years.

Now the company is famed for firsts, including being the world’s first solar-powered shoe store, the world’s first shoe store to sell Crocs, and inventing the now popular concept of focusing on comfortable walking shoes. At least as far as we know.

For the rest of our birthday week, from Sunday through Friday, Aug. 22- 27, the Pedestrian Shops will continue giving free céfiore yogurt shop coupons to customers who make purchases. We will also have drawings for free shoes, and more.

The Pedestrian Shops opened 40 years ago as the complete walking shop. We featured walkwear, including comfortable shoes, socks, and a variety of other apparel, as well as walkware, including shoe inserts, walking sticks, pedometers, handbags, luggage and a variety of other gadgets and gizmos. In addition there was walkwhere, information about where to walk, including guidebooks to local and regional trails along with a variety of titles about the benefits of walking.

My daughters, who are responsible for more and more of the company’s management, and some of our other longtime employees, started in on me last year about celebrating our heritage and reemphasizing walking. “Dad, that’s who we are,” they said.

Short and long, when you visit the downtown Boulder Pedestrian Shops you’ll find a large selection of walking sticks for both street and trail, a wide variety of insoles and other shoe inserts, high-SPF sun hats, books about walking and maps of local open space and trails, and much more, including great bags to carry it.

We haven’t neglected the shoes, either. Now more than ever, our stores feature the largest collection available of the world’s most comfortable brands of shoes.

Here on our website, www.comfortableshoes.com, you’ll find our complete selection of shoes for walking, hiking, and running.

-Richard

I met my daughter at the Phoenix airport for a spring break adventure.

The next morning Zoe and I were picked up at our hotel at 7:20 a.m. and driven to a small airport. I was wearing the Patagonia Release. Zoe was wearing the Keen H2. By 8:15 we were on a small airplane on our way to the Havasupai Indian Reservation on the edge of the Grand Canyon. Shortly thereafter we found ourselves in a small helicopter on the way down to the Colorado River.

Our next couple of hours was spent on a small boat with our Havasupai guide and a family of three from Portland. The bearded father reminded me of my brother Jeff. Their teenage Chinese son was wearing Vibram Five Fingers, which have dramatically increased in popularity at our shops during the past year. Going back up to the rim, as the helicopter climbed and climbed the 4,000 feet, I could only think of reading “The Little Engine That Could” to Zoe, 18 years before.

The afternoon included hiking, Havasupai cuisine and a walk on this crazy horseshoe-shaped glass bridge that the Indians and a guy from Taiwan built 4,000 feet above the canyon. I walked a couple of feet out on it but Zoe went all the way around.

The return trip to Phoenix was beautiful -- the sun was setting over the canyons and desert. With dust from the canyon still visible on Zoe’s Keens and my Patagonias, we agreed that adventures are always better in comfortable shoes.

-Richard

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT:
Richard Polk
Pedestrian Shops
Phone: 303.641-8639
Richard@pedestrianshops.com

Long-time green retailer's Earth Day Shoe Drive

BOULDER, Colorado – It doesn’t take too many feet and toes to count the Boulder businesses that have been in business more than 40 years.

One of them, The Pedestrian Shops, founded in 1969, is celebrating by holding its 42nd shoe drive from April 16 through April 30, honoring Earth Day by collecting gently worn shoes that will be distributed to people in need by local assistance organizations.

Customers who donate shoes will receive a 10 percent discount on any shoe purchase. During 21 years of Earth Day and Thanksgiving shoe drives, Pedestrian has collected more than 35,000 pairs of shoes to help needy people in the community.

The longtime “green” retailer also operates a 10 kw solar array generating energy equal to half the energy needed to run its headquarters shop at 1425 Pearl St.

"We plan to keep increasing energy generation while decreasing energy consumption until we are the first retailer in the world to sell shoes without leaving a carbon footprint," said Pedestrian’s founder and President Richard Polk.
The Pedestrian Shops are a locally owned family business operating two Boulder stores, as well as the website www.comfortableshoes.com, where additional information can be found.
The Pedestrian Shops sell the world's most comfortable brands of shoes and encourage their customers to enjoy life and take a walk.

On the Downtown Boulder Mall: 1425 Pearl, Boulder, Colorado
In the Village: Facing Folsom between Arapahoe and Canyon, Boulder, Colorado

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT:

Richard Polk

Pedestrian Shops

Phone: 303.641.8639

Richard@pedestrianshops.com

Long-time "green" retailer's 21st Thanksgiving Shoe Drive

Boulder, CO – Nov. 9, 2009 – In celebration of Thanksgiving, Boulder's Pedestrian Shops are asking customers to donate shoes they no longer wear, to help people in need. They may bring new or slightly used shoes to the Pedestrian Shops between Friday, Nov. 13 and Sunday, Dec. 6. As an incentive for a used shoe donation, Pedestrian offers a 10 percent discount on a shoe purchase. However, no purchase is required to donate shoes.

Pedestrian gives the used shoes to local assistance organizations. This is the store’s 42nd shoe drive; it also conducts a drive each April as part of its Earth Day celebration. In 21 years of twice-yearly shoe drives, the Pedestrian Shops have collected more than 35,000 pairs for reuse by people in need.

The Pedestrian Shops’ "green business" practices also include operation of a 10 kW photovoltaic solar array that generates energy equal to half of the electricity used at its headquarters on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall.

"We plan to keep increasing our energy generation while decreasing our energy consumption until we are the first retailer in the world to sell shoes without leaving a carbon footprint," said Pedestrian’s owner Richard Polk.

The Pedestrian Shops have been a locally owned family business in Boulder, Colorado, for 40 years. Pedestrian operates two Boulder stores, as well as the website www.comfortableshoes.com, where additional information can be found.

The Pedestrian Shops sell the world's most comfortable brands of shoes and encourage customers to enjoy life and take a walk.

On the Downtown Boulder Mall: 1425 Pearl Street, Boulder, Colorado

In the Village: Facing Folsom between Arapahoe and Canyon Boulevard, Boulder, Colorado

Blundstone Clogs are here at the Pedestrian Shops!
We have sold Blundstones for many years now, but really only in their classic boot styles. The Blundstone boot, or "Blunnie" has always been kind of a cult classic in the work-boot world - and a staple of our store and website.
I guess it never occurred to us that they would do much different than the tried and true boot. But, now that they have created the Blundstone Clog - it seems like a perfect fit, and addition to our store offerings.
The Blundstone Clog is a convertible version of our classic 500 series boot and offers the same durability and classic comfort that Blundstone is known for with their boots. And you wouldn't think it to look at them, but these clogs are lightweight too! Some of the other features of the Blundstone Clog include:

- Direct injected dual polyurethane outsole
- SPS in the heel
- Industrial strenght liner
- Waterproof leather

You can purchase this fabulous clog in our store on Pearl Street, or from our website!

The Pedestrian Shops and longtime neighbor Boulder Arts & Crafts Gallery teamed up on Friday, April 24, 2009 to celebrate Colorado Children’s Day with a kids’ Crocs decorating event.

Between our Kid's Crocs Decorating Event with the Boulder Arts and Crafts Co-op, and our sale of Kid's Cayman since then, we've raised a total of $1967.27 for the Kid's Learning Loop at the Valmont Bike Park! You can read the original blog/article about this event here

Wired did an awesome review of Vibram FiveFingers. They focus on running, but these 'toe gloves' can be worn for a wide variety of activities. Come in and check them out in our store, or of course, we carry them online on our Vibram page!

The Pedestrian Shops and longtime neighbor Boulder Arts & Crafts Gallery are teaming up to celebrate Colorado Children’s Day with a kids’ Crocs decorating event on Friday, April 24, 2009 from 1 pm to 3 pm.

The two businesses have been next-door neighbors and friends since they first opened in the early 1970s in the 1300 block of Pearl Street. In the 1980s, within a few years both coincidentally built their dream stores next to each other a block to the east, in the1400 block of the Pearl Street Mall.

“This is going to be fun,” said Pedestrian’s Richard Polk. “We both care about children and the environment, and have been talking for a long time about an event celebrating our common values.”

Colorado Children’s Day (ccdboulder.googlepages.com) kicks off Boulder County Family Week, a week of community-based hands-on activities, Saturday, April 25 to Friday, May 1.

Parents and kids can purchase a pair of kids’ Crocs at the Pedestrian Shops on Colorado Children’s Day and take them next door to the Boulder Arts & Crafts Gallery to decorate them. Both businesses are located in the 1400 block of the Pearl Street Mall, near the stone animals playpark. The rain date is April 27, 1 pm to 3 pm.

One hundred percent of the proceeds from the sale of Kids' Classic Crocs and donations for decorating them will be given to the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance and designated for the Kids' Learning Loop at the Valmont Bike Park. Besides Pedestrian Shops and Boulder Arts & Crafts, Crocs and Jibbitz are also sponsors of the event.

Additional Earth Day celebrations will be held at Pedestrian Shops and Boulder Arts & Crafts during April.

The Pedestrian Shops is holding its 41st shoe drive from April 10 through April 26, celebrating Earth Day by collecting gently worn shoes that will be distributed to people in need by local assistance organizations. Customers who donate shoes will receive a 10% discount on any shoe purchase. During 20 years of Earth Day and Thanksgiving shoe drives, Pedestrian has collected 26,000 pairs of shoes to help needy people in the community. The longtime “green” retailer also operates a 10 kw solar array generating energy equal to half the shop's needs.

At the same time, Boulder Arts & Crafts Gallery is hosting a selection of “Recycled Goods,” designed & produced using recycled and reusable materials from local artists. Items range from fine art to personal and home accessories, such as Nederland’s English Retreads wallets, belts and purses made from recycled bicycle tubes and old machinery decorated with stylized portraits by Longmont’s Bruce Campbell. Raffle chances will be sold in the store for $1 each to win a Campbell sculpture.



For more information, contact:

· Lisa McDonough, Boulder Arts & Crafts Gallery, lisa@boulderartsandcrafts.com, 303-443-3683.
· Richard Polk, richard@pedestrianshops.com, 303-641-8639.
· Lauren Polk, Pedestrian Shops,
lauren@pedestrianshops.com, 303-449-5260.

www.PedestrianShops.com
www.boulderartsandcrafts.com
http://bma-mtb.org/valmontbikepark/

Well, the Bolder Boulder is upon us again - the 31st annual if you can believe that! It is an exciting year for the Pedestrian Shops too - we are, for the first time, carrying running shoes in our store (we have mentioned that in a previous blog).

It is also an exciting year, as the Bolder Boulder are now going to allow Ipods and other musical devices. I think this is great news for many runners, as Ipods and music help pass the time, and help to establish a running rhythm. Personally, I don't think I would rack up as many miles as I do every week if I couldn't listen to music.

We hope everyone has a great race, and we also hope you will stop by the Pedestrian Shops before or after the big event!

If you just got into town, and realized that you forgot your running shoes, you might want to check out our Saucony and New Balance pages. We carry some great styles and we can accommodate just about any foot and size!