A Fitting Celebration at Concord's Joe King’s [VIDEO]

June 25 was a day of celebration at Joe King’s. Not only is the shoe shop still in business, making it during difficult economic times on Main Street in Concord, but the store also celebrated six decades in business Saturday by offering discounts to customers.

Store manager Jeff Roberge said the discounts were “a day to give back to the community.” After choosing a new item, a customer could pick a balloon at the register to pop. Inside the balloon was a piece of paper, offering a certain percentage discount off the item (or any other a customer chose to buy). The discounts ranged from 10 percent to 100 percent off, according to Roberge.

The store opened 60 years ago by its namesake, Joe King, and is currently owned and operated by his children. Roberge, who is married to a granddaughter of King’s, has been the store manager for about 15 years. The store has had three locations downtown during the last 60 years and has been at the current location for about nine. 

Industry changes

Anyone who has ever had to buy a pair of dress shoes or sneakers knows that styles, fashions, and fads, are changing all the time in the shoe business. Roberge said the store keeps up on the business by reading trade magazines, putting together research on new trends in the industry, and finding out what is popular with both customers and other outlets. The shoe business runs in biannual cycles with spring and summer styles and then fall and winter options.

“Not knowing what to buy can be frustrating but you try to read your clientele and what would fit them,” he said. “We really focus on fit, comfort, and quality, those are the three things I look at.”

Roberge said the store sells more than 175 different variety of shoes, calling it “the biggest selection in New Hampshire, by far.” He said currently, metallic and shiny, silvery colors are in fashion, but the store doesn’t sell a lot of pumps or very high heels.

“This definitely isn’t New York City,” he said. “There’s not a lot of stilettos, 3 3/4-inch heals … it’s a little more on the conservative side.”