Charles Warner|Daily Times Tammy Crook, manger of Shoe Show, prepares to bag up a customer's purchase while employee Courtney Graham rings it up Monday morning. The store, located at 515 N. Duncan Bypass, Suite B, Union, opened for business this past Friday.

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Charles Warner|Daily Times There was steady customer traffic in and out of Shoe Show Monday morning. The store, which opened this past Friday, carries a wide selection of footwear as well as pocketbooks, socks, and hose.

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Charles Warner|Daily Times Racks of shoes and displays of other items for sale are the dominant feature of the new Shoe Show store.

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Charles Warner|Daily Times Even though shoes are its primary business, the new Shoe Show store in Union also carries a wide selection of pocketbooks.

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Charles Warner|Daily Times The new Shoe Show, 515 N. Duncan Bypass, Suite B, Union, is open for business.

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UNION — The newest retail business in Union County is a “family shoe store” that carries a variety of footwear for customers of all ages.

A steady stream of customers were trying on shoes and making purchases at the new Shoe Show store at 515 N. Duncan Bypass, Suite B, Union, Monday morning. Monday was the store’s fourth day in business and Shoe Show District Manager Michael Bishop said he was delighted with the response to the opening of the store.

“We opened Friday, March 1,” Bishop said. “We are extremely happy with the response to our opening.”

Bishop, whose district includes Upstate South Carolina, northeast Georgia, and a small part of North Carolina, said that the Union store is the 13th in his district. Like other Shoe Show stores, Bishop said the 4,000-square-foot Union store carries a wide selection of shoes for the entire family as well as other items.

“We are a family shoe store,” Bishop said. “We have infant sizes on up to adults. We have both name brand athletics along with popular price dress shoes and casual shoes for men, women, and children. We also carry socks and hose and pocketbooks.”

The store also carries copies of Howard E. Covington Jr.’s “Under The Radar: How Robert Tucker built SHOE SHOW, INC. into the Nation’s Largest Independent Shoe Retailer.”

Shoe Show Inc. was founded by Tucker in 1960 in Kannapolis, N.C. In the 53 years since its founding, the company has grown with shoe stores with the Shoe Show, Shoe Department, and Burlington Shoes. Currently, there are 1,124 Shoe Show Inc. stores in 37 states. The company’s website (shoeshow.com) states that its success has been based on its “simple formula of providing quality products, service and value” and that it will continue to focus on that formula in the future.

The store’s opening was welcomed by local officials including Union County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Torance Inman who pointed out that many local residents have expressed a desire over the years for a shoe store.

“I’ve been here in the chamber for over 10 years and over that tenure I’ve had virtually every year people express the need for a retail shoe store in Union,” Inman said. “It’s exciting to see them be here and we wish them all success as they serve the needs of the people of Union County.”

Union County Supervisor Tommy Sinclair said the store’s opening is a sign of confidence in the future of the county.

“I’m certainly happy to see it open,” Sinclair said. “It provides a few more jobs and competition is always good. More than anything it represents confidence in our future. We all ought to have confidence in our future.”

Shoe Show is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Editor Charles Warner can be reached at 864-427-1234, ext. 14, or by email at cwarner@civitasmedia.com.