Episode 02: Nice Shoes
I love this story. Back in 2009, when Isaac was still learning how technology like Twitter operated, he tweeted at Doctor Shaquille O’Neal. Every three months, for about a year, Isaac DM’d and tweeted Shaq asking for help on finding shoes and socks. Unfortunately, this did not get any traction.
Fast Forward 7 years. Isaac is watching a YouTube entertainer (Sailing La Vagabonde, Demolition Ranch, or a Stand Up Comedian) and one of those annoying commercials popped onto the screen. Isaac was ready to push the skip button, but, 4.7 seconds in, Shaq walks into a shoe store. This commercial tugged at the emotional strings in an effort to have people support small businesses, but absolutely failed at promoting that specific small business. Isaac had to screenshot, photoshop, enhance, and research numerous parts of the video for a logo of the store. Finally, Isaac was able to put the pieces together…
Friedman’s Shoes. It felt like celebrating a holiday with your best friends. The commercial ended with Shaq leaving the store with 12 pairs of shoes and a $4,500 tab. This breaks down to $375 per shoe! For years, Isaac would venture to numerous Nordstrom Rack stores in hopes of finding any shoe to fit. Wasting more than $375 on gas alone and only having 2 successful trips (after years of continued searches) made this fee feasible.
Isaac’s first visit to Friedman’s was glorious. The location is maybe a half mile away from Mercedes Benz Stadium. Paying for street parking was not an issue. There are times where the homeless population hangs out on the streets just outside the store. As a tall person, who respects them, I have not had any issues. Entering the store, you a greeted by the security guard (reminded me of Michael Jordan’s head security guard), the person working the check out area, and most times, the owner also behind the counter. Their are socks on the wall to your left, the women’s section is immediately to the right, and the stair are in the middle of the room. The more levels you go up, the larger the shoes & socks. There are sales people throughout the store and none of them are pushy. When the super bowl was in Atlanta, Isaac made a stop here and interacted with the most amount of sales people here. Isaac collected many business cards to see if these vendors would custom design a shoe for me. This never took shape. Isaac never heard back after multiple attempts of reaching out. The best bet is to shop off the racks of all the shoes within the store.
Isaac made his way to the top floor, corner section, and found 15 pairs of shoes that would fit. It was the first time Isaac had options; to say yes or no to any shoe and sock. Isaac fell in love with two pairs of shoes, but was not able to cover the total cost of them. After sharing this information, the salesperson called downstairs to the owner, and was able come to an agreement where I could purchase both pairs of shoes and they would knock off a few dollars on the price. I refuse to purchase shoes from anyone else now. This tactic created a customer for life, and is one of the main motivators behind this website. Friedman’s shoes is the best place to purchase nice, quality shoes at fair prices, from great people.
The audio/podcast of this story will be uploaded soon.
