Must Have Shoes retail store set to open this week

A shoe company with heavy footprints in Lynchburg is taking a step forward with a new retail presence in the Boonsboro Shopping Center.

Must Have Shoes, originally launched as a website for Consolidated Shoe Company’s products, is scheduled to open its first Lynchburg retail shop in Boonsboro this week. 

Consolidated is the successor to the Lynchburg Shoe Co., which opened in the city at the turn of the century. The business, at one point housed in the current location of Cliffs Edge Lofts downtown, changed its name to Consolidated in 1930.

The Must Have Shoes outlet, which carried excess stock from the website, closed its location behind Consolidated Shoes on Timberlake Road at the end of September.

Katie Lester, head of marketing and advertising for the shoe store, said a retail presence like Must Have Shoes is something the Lynchburg area has been “starving for.”

“Women will always love their shoes,” Lester said.

But the switch from outlet to retail will bring some changes to the business, she said.

Since most of the store’s products will be from the current season, prices may be a bit higher across the board, though the store will have a standing sale section. Lester said value-conscious shoppers still can find the shoes they want at the price they want to pay.

The new location also will be open Monday through Saturday, a change from the outlet’s shorter Wednesday through Saturday hours, Lester said.

“There are some changes price-wise, but it’s all worth it,” said Shelly Tucker, who managed the Timberlake location and will now be running the Boonsboro shop.

“Once they get in here, they won’t even think about the outlet anymore,” Tucker said of customers who used to frequent the Timberlake store.

At the end of last week, the windows of the new store were covered with brown paper while employees worked to get all the shoe displays set up as quickly as possible. Even with the windows covered, Tucker said, customers have been checking in frequently to see when the store would be open for business.

“We want to open more than they want to come in,” Tucker said, adding that they’ve been taking their time to make sure the store measures up to customers’ expectations of “fabulousity.”

Kasey Forehand, Boonsboro’s marketing director, said Must Have Shoes will fit in well with the strong women’s retail presence in the shopping center.

“We’re really excited to have them. They have a great following and it will increase our foot traffic and benefit everybody in the center,” Forehand said.

And, she added, the shop should attract a slightly younger crowd than some of the center’s other stores.

“I think having Must Have Shoes will bring a new era to the shopping center,” Forehand said.

Tucker agreed.

“Our store alone is going to give a different energy to the shopping center,” she said.