Kinney Shoes
229 S. Phillips
121 S. Phillips
209-211 S. Phillips
The Empire Plaza Mall
121 S. Phillips
209-211 S. Phillips
The Empire Plaza Mall
For decades Sioux Falls enjoyed the variety and quality offered by Kinney Shoes, both downtown and at the Empire Mall.
Over a short time, George Romanta Kinney became a giant in the shoe industry, and he did this by necessity. His father, Jeremiah, a general store owner in Candor, New York, fell on hard times by extending credit to customers. When he couldn’t collect on these debts, he went bankrupt. He died a short time later at age 52. George vowed to pay off his father’s debts and went to work as a clerk in the shoe industry. It was 1875 and he was nine years old. He worked with several companies, picking up the tricks of the trade along the way. When he was 18, he was asked to run a new store for his employers in Waverly, New York. He made this store a success, though his employers went out of business a few months after its opening. George bought the store with $1,500 he’d saved after paying off his father’s debts. This store became the first G. R. Kinney shoe store in 1885.
The focus of G. R. Kinney’s shoe stores was to be the shoe store for the American working class. George purchased shoes directly from manufacturers in large quantities so he could sell them to customers at a low cost. The only catch was that he did not extend any credit. It was a cash for shoes business. Kinney’s motto was “Shoes on the shelf or money in the till”. His stores made a rare exception to this rule in the early days, offering the popular Woonsocket Boot for coal miners around Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania on credit.
In 1895, Kinney moved his corporate offices from New York to Wilkes-Barre. By 1903, he had 15 stores, and 40 by 1914. By 1916, G. R. Kinney was the largest shoe chain in the United States with 56 stores. On June 17, 1919, G. R. Kinney died at age 53 from heart failure. Just a few years later in 1923, the G. R. Kinney Company offered its initial public offering of stock. The company began a trend of explosive growth. By this time, the company was manufacturing its own shoes to further eliminate the barriers to low-priced shoes for its customers.
The focus of G. R. Kinney’s shoe stores was to be the shoe store for the American working class. George purchased shoes directly from manufacturers in large quantities so he could sell them to customers at a low cost. The only catch was that he did not extend any credit. It was a cash for shoes business. Kinney’s motto was “Shoes on the shelf or money in the till”. His stores made a rare exception to this rule in the early days, offering the popular Woonsocket Boot for coal miners around Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania on credit.
In 1895, Kinney moved his corporate offices from New York to Wilkes-Barre. By 1903, he had 15 stores, and 40 by 1914. By 1916, G. R. Kinney was the largest shoe chain in the United States with 56 stores. On June 17, 1919, G. R. Kinney died at age 53 from heart failure. Just a few years later in 1923, the G. R. Kinney Company offered its initial public offering of stock. The company began a trend of explosive growth. By this time, the company was manufacturing its own shoes to further eliminate the barriers to low-priced shoes for its customers.
Kinney's at 209-211 S. Phillips in 1956. This space is now occupied by Zandbroz Variety.
On February 23, 1924, the Argus Leader teased that the Kinney Company would open a store in Sioux Falls. The grand opening was Saturday, March 8, 1924, at 229 S. Phillips, in the northern half of the Boyce-Greeley building. At the time, the company’s shoes were priced no higher than $4.98.
Kinney Shoes did a brisk business in downtown Sioux Falls. The store moved north to 121 S. Phillips, near the northwest corner of 10th and Phillips, in 1935. The new location promised a pleasant experience, and featured a fresh facade with “tastily-arranged glass show windows with stainless steel trim”. The base of these windows was clad in vitrolite; a black, glass material used to provide a stunning contrast to the stainless steel.
In 1956, the Kinney Company was purchased by the Brown Shoe Co., which manufactured Buster Brown shoes, among others. Brown was the nation’s fourth-largest shoe manufacturer, while Kinney’s had fallen to 8th place. Locally, Woolworth’s, the lease holder for Kinney’s downtown location, decided to expand and opted to not renew Kinney’s lease for the location the store had occupied for the previous 21 years. Kinney’s moved to a location vacated by Kresge’s dollar store at 209-211 S. Phillips, the current home of Zandbroz Variety.
Kinney Shoes did a brisk business in downtown Sioux Falls. The store moved north to 121 S. Phillips, near the northwest corner of 10th and Phillips, in 1935. The new location promised a pleasant experience, and featured a fresh facade with “tastily-arranged glass show windows with stainless steel trim”. The base of these windows was clad in vitrolite; a black, glass material used to provide a stunning contrast to the stainless steel.
In 1956, the Kinney Company was purchased by the Brown Shoe Co., which manufactured Buster Brown shoes, among others. Brown was the nation’s fourth-largest shoe manufacturer, while Kinney’s had fallen to 8th place. Locally, Woolworth’s, the lease holder for Kinney’s downtown location, decided to expand and opted to not renew Kinney’s lease for the location the store had occupied for the previous 21 years. Kinney’s moved to a location vacated by Kresge’s dollar store at 209-211 S. Phillips, the current home of Zandbroz Variety.
The downtown location in 1974. Fusfield's is to the south, while Dahl Optical, and Osco Drug occupy the spaces to the north.
In 1963, Brown Shoe Company sold Kinney’s to the F. W. Woolworth Company. Though Kinney’s had many competitors, the company held its own in the 1970s. The stores were dubbed “The Great American Shoe Store”, and the acronym GASS was even stamped into the soles of the shoes the company manufactured. In 1974, Kinney’s branched into the Footlocker brand, stores specializing in sport shoes. In 1975, Kinney Shoes opened a new location in the Empire Mall, closing the downtown store a year later.
In 1994, the Kinney Shoe Company celebrated its 100 year anniversary. Its numbers looked good: It had more than 4,500 stores, comprised of Kinney, Footlocker, Lady Footlocker, and others. These stores contributed $3.5 billion in sales, making up 60 percent of Woolworth’s profits. At the time, the Woolworth Company was suffering overall, and by September of 1998, announced the closing of all its Kinney’s stores, keeping the sports-targeted stores on board.
G. R. Kinney may not have liked the way his namesake ended up. He grew a good idea that saved his family into a much larger enterprise. It was the American dream to make something of less than nothing, and it became so much more after his death. He might have been concerned for this explosive growth and urged more caution. We’ll never know.
In 1994, the Kinney Shoe Company celebrated its 100 year anniversary. Its numbers looked good: It had more than 4,500 stores, comprised of Kinney, Footlocker, Lady Footlocker, and others. These stores contributed $3.5 billion in sales, making up 60 percent of Woolworth’s profits. At the time, the Woolworth Company was suffering overall, and by September of 1998, announced the closing of all its Kinney’s stores, keeping the sports-targeted stores on board.
G. R. Kinney may not have liked the way his namesake ended up. He grew a good idea that saved his family into a much larger enterprise. It was the American dream to make something of less than nothing, and it became so much more after his death. He might have been concerned for this explosive growth and urged more caution. We’ll never know.
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