WADENA — Cathy Keezer loves shoes so much that she bought not just one shoe store but two.
“Put it this way: I have so many pairs of shoes that I had to buy two shoe stores,” Keezer said while chuckling. Store Fixtures
In August, the 50-year-old wife and mother of six bought Lyle’s Shoes in downtown Wadena and Park Rapids from Lisa Baymler and Brian Koons. But Keezer is just starting to find her footing as a new business owner.
“I started working in shoes at Fresh Catch in Park Rapids, like, 18 years ago,” Keezer said. “I was the manager and then it went out of business, unfortunately. I did do some day care for my grandchildren and then I came back to the shoe business.”
Keezer eventually found her way back to selling footwear as an employee of Lyle’s Shoes.
“I love shoes,” Keezer said. “But it's not just the shoes. My passion is actually helping people find the right shoe for them. It just makes me happy to see people happy with their footwear.”
A plaque outside Lyle’s Shoes in downtown Wadena details the storied history of the retail space at 118 Jefferson St. S. Lyle Goodrich ran the business that bears his name starting in 1955.
“Because everybody is aware of Lyle’s Shoes, I wanted to keep the name and just offer the same, you know, ‘small-town service, big-name brands,’ at decent prices,” Keezer said of the business and its slogan.
Baymler and Koons of Park Rapids purchased Amish Oak and Americana Furnishings last year, according to Keezer, but found themselves spread too thin with the Park Rapids-based home store and decided to get out of the footwear business and sell Lyle’s Shoes.
“They realized when I started working with them over a year ago that I had the same kind of passion for the stores as they did,” Keezer said of the shoe retailer’s two locations. “And so they just approached me and asked me if I'd be interested in purchasing the stores from them.”
The Park Rapids woman with an easy smile and disarming personality decided to take the plunge and switch from being an employee of Lyle’s Shoes to the business’ owner.
“I was extremely touched that they actually asked me because I'd only been working for them for like a year,” Keezer said of the former co-owners. “And I did have a little bit of anxiety about it because I've never owned a business before. But it's always been my dream.”
Keezer called Baymler her “guiding light” and credits the former co-owner for being there. Otherwise she would have found taking over the business much more challenging, she said.
“My lifelong dream is to have my own shoe store and they gave me that opportunity,” Keezer said of Baymler and Koons. “And yet I do still have some anxiety about things going forward because I'm new at this.”
In 2022 alone, wholesale sales of athletic footwear generated approximately $20 billion in U.S. dollars, according to Statista.com , and the average household expenditure on women's footwear in the U.S. in 2022 amounted to just over $173 U.S. dollars.
“This is something I want to see how I do,” Keezer said of becoming a shoe store owner. “I want to see if I'm made for this. I know that it has been my passion and my dream to own a shoe store, but am I that person that can make it succeed?”
Keezer said she has one employee each at the Wadena and Park Rapids locations but is looking to hire at least one more.
“I'm not exactly going to change too much. What I am going to do is, I would like to kind of slim down on the athletics a little bit and bring in a little bit more of, like, different kinds of styles — everything from dress shoes to athletics.”
Lyle’s Shoes also sells clothing, jackets, hats and wool socks in addition to seasonal footwear such as wrestling shoes or cleats.
“I would say in Park Rapids, during the summer, we get more of the tourists whereas in Wadena we have our regular customers, the ones that always come and have been coming here for years,” Keezer said.
Keezer said she purchased the business and its two locations, and its name for about $400,000.
“I gotta say that I'm enjoying it immensely. I enjoy being able to listen to the customers and find out what they want or what their needs are and what they would like to see. I'm enjoying keeping up with the Facebook page and letting clients know about sales,” Keezer said.
“I love being able to find them the right shoe that they walk out and they're just so happy.”
Headphone display FRANK LEE is the features writer for the Wadena Pioneer Journal. He may be reached at 218-631-6470 or at flee@wadenapj.com .