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