Vegan Business Spotlight: Superior Shoes

I'm the kind of girl who is always looking for the next great thing in vegan businesses and shopping. I love to support smaller, family-owned establishments, and if they cater to vegans specifically, they get extra stars in my grade book. Through the wonder that is Twitter, I recently happened upon supergirl-aspiring-vegan-shoe-loving-entreprenuer Rachel Hubbard. Rachel and her brother Rich own Superior Shoes and are some of the hardest working people I have ever met; this also includes employee Leah, who is as sweet as vegan pumpkin pie and as sharp as a tack. What makes this business so fantastic is that not only do they love what they do, but they also cater to vegans and those who are eco-conscious, and let's face it, in these troubled times, who isn't? It can't be easy to be self-employed in this rocky economy. I was so impressed with the internet storefront, that I wanted to interview Rachel to discover the masterminds behind the Superior Shoes awesomeness. And guess what else??? When I started inquiring about their vegan products, they sent me a FREE pair of awesome vegan Sanuk sandals! More on these awesome recycled sandals later. Here is my interview with Rachel:

1. Can you tell the readers a little bit about yourself and your business?

I'm Rachel and co-own the business with my brother Rich. Before shoes I worked in veterinary clinics as a veterinary technician and loved working with animals. I miss it, but I also love what I am doing now...creating a wonderful environmentally friendly business to work for and helping to match great people with great shoes. Rich and I started the business in 2004 in the tiny town of Ironwood MI which is near Lake Superior. (Superior Shoes, get it??) The town of 6000 people has really supported us and made us feel like we could do this in bigger cities. We now have a store in Bloomington, IN and Dallas, TX. We also sell online at superiorshoes.net and on Amazon.com as footwearheadquarters. (Superior Shoes was taken as a name so we had to come up with another one) Our philosophy is to treat our customers like friends, and hopefully give them a fun and helpful shopping experience either online or in person. We also want you to be COMFORTABLE in your shoes and able to wear them all day standing up without cursing us at the end of the day! We are just a small company run by two siblings, so we are often stumbling in the dark not knowing what we are doing. We hope to have fun, give our staff decent jobs at decent wages, lead by example, and hopefully make a little money someday.

2. Where did you come up with the idea for your business?

Really have to give my brother the credit for this. Rich started working at JCPenney in the shoe dept as a teenager and then moved to Nordstrom to sell shoes, then to Ecco shoes, then started his own shoe company (Muraade Shoes). He knows everything about shoes and loves them! (of course, who doesn't love shoes) In the meantime I had moved from the Seattle area to tiny Ironwood MI and was pretty bored not working. I remember sitting on my stairs crying, not sure what to do with my life when Rich called and asked if I wanted to start a shoe store. I was like "Thank you for saving my life, sure I'll do anything!!" Rich is a shoe freak and really has the vision for the company, and together we work to fulfill his vision while leading the company in an environmentally friendly way and creating good jobs for our employees.

3. Can you share your vegan story?

I am transitioning to vegetarian slowly, then plan to go vegan. I have flirted with veganism off and on. My issue is animal cruelty, the environmental impact of eating meat, and health. I haven't eaten much meat in the past couple years so going 'officially vegetarian' shouldn't be too hard. I read an article in a veterinary medical journal a long time ago that told about human genes being spliced with pig genes (since pigs organs are so close to human organs) and then put back into pigs. After the experiments, those pigs are sometimes put back into the food supply....so you could be eating basically a person when you eat pork! Yes this was years ago and I am probably remembering the article incorrectly, but still, if there is a chance of eating a person with your pork chop, do you really want to risk it? That article started my journey.

4. Did you introduce vegan products into your stores right away?

One of the first people I met in Ironwood was a vegan so I was sure to have a good selection of shoes she could wear and buy when we opened our doors! Often we buy shoes because they are cute and comfy and then realize they are vegan-friendly.

5. How do you feel carrying vegan products has impacted your business?

The more we can help our customers and make them feel comfortable and welcome, the happier I am. Here in Ironwood people sometimes look at us funny when I mention a shoe is vegan-friendly, but others come out of the 'vegan/vegetarian closet'. In Bloomington, IN, many customers request vegan shoes. Indiana University is there, as well as a large Buddhist center, so we cater to a lot of that population. In Texas we are at the Galleria Mall, and the majority does not ask for vegan shoes, but some do. Vegan and environmentally-friendly shoes are becoming a larger and larger part of our business. What's awesome is most shoe companies are also seeing the demand and making shoes vegan-friendly. Our employee Leah has really been a leader in working to promote our vegan shoes...I didn't realize how hard it could be for people to buy vegan-friendly items until she pointed it out. We have always carried some and have expanded our offerings in the past couple years.

6. Was it a part of your initial business strategy to offer vegan products?

Since I didn't know a lot about shoes when I started, I read the catalogs cover to cover. I purchased vegan shoes for our store mostly because of the lower environmental impact. But like I said earlier, there are many shoes we buy just because they are great shoes and then happily realize they are also vegan-friendly.

7. Is there any other information you would like to share with the readers?

Remember to recycle your old shoes...there is a great program called Soles4Souls that will give your old shoes to someone who can use them. If you can't find a store in your area that recycles shoes you can always send them to us and we will be happy to do it. One of our great staff members, Leah, is vegan and will be able to answer any and all questions you may have about shoes that are vegan-friendly. Feel free to ask for her by name. She brings in great vegan treats and is slowly teaching all of us the benefits of a vegan lifestyle. We are truly passionate about our business and want to do right by our customers. Please feel free to call us and ask any questions you have, or just to talk-we do have other brands, Keen for example, that are not on our website but are vegan-friendly. Just ask, and we'll do our best to help!

I can tell you from first-hand experience; Rachel and Leah are some of the nicest people I have ever met, and it's always nice to do business with nice people. The Sanuk sandals that they sent to me are wonderful and they came with a re-usable eco-friendly pouch that is also made from recycled materials. Please check out their store here and also check out the links below to follow Rachel, Leah and Superior Shoes on Twitter. LA Vegan Examiner readers get 10% off by using this code: VEGANLUV at checkout! Now that is certainly an offer that no vegan show-lover will be able to refuse!