It’s a good fit : Roxy’s Shoes owner Roxanne Jolley takes pride in customer service, good selection
By ERIN SNELGROVE
UNION GAP — One time a trucker tried to return a pair of shoes he had purchased six months earlier. One of the shoes was severely burned, and when store owner Roxanne Jolley made note of this, the man threw the shoe at her and told her to use it as toilet paper.
Thankfully, situations like that are rare, Jolley said.
“My motto here is if you get hard customers, you kill them with kindness,” said Jolley, owner of Roxy’s Shoes in the Valley Mall. “If you keep a smile on your face and help them as much as you can, they’ll usually come back later and apologize.”
Roxy’s Shoes has been a part of Jolley’s family since 1978, when her father, Richard Gebhard, opened it under the name Gebs Hush Puppies. Now 56 and a married mother of two grown sons, Jolley worked alongside her dad from the start.
“He’s a joker. We never had any problems,” said Jolley, whose 76-year-old father still helps out occasionally. “He’ll wait on people. But he’s not as good as me now.”
Gebs Hush Puppies was the second Hush Puppies specialty store in the country, following the opening of the first store in Portland. The name recognition helped draw customers, Jolley said.
For 28 years, she, her father and a couple of employees ran the business out of a corner space now occupied by Macy’s. When their lease ran out and Macy’s moved in in 2002, Jolley operated out of a couple of temporary locations in the mall.
She found a permanent home five years ago near the Valley Mall front entrance and marked the occasion by changing the store’s name to Roxy’s Shoes.
Losing the name recognition hurt her for a time, and the existing recession dealt another blow, Jolley said.
Still, she has not sought bank loans to finance her inventory. Rather, her personal savings are funding the shoe sizes and colors she carries.
“Our huge inventory has come out of our own pockets,” she said, noting that choosing what to stock can be a challenge. “I want to keep customers happy with the selection.”
The store caters to predominantly female customers from throughout the state, who are attracted to such brands as SAS, Naot and Alegria. Most of the shoes sell for $80 to $150 a pair, and Jolley spends much of her time helping people with foot problems.
“It’s such a joy to get people in the right shoe and see how happy they are. It’s amazing,” she said.
At Roxy’s Shoes, the longtime staff — one full-time and two part-time employees — are trained to use shoe horns, Jolley said. She and her sales team take note of a foot’s length, width and arch, and they educate themselves on a shoe’s mobility, depth and quality.
“There’s a lot to selling shoes,” Jolley said. “Customer service is huge.”
In the future, Jolley wants to increase sales and spend more time pastoring with her husband at their church, Living Faith Victory Center in Yakima. She spends much of her free time with her four grandchildren, and she aspires to resume a regular exercise routine.
“I love staying busy,” said Jolley, noting that her store plays a big role in her life. “It’s a challenge, the way we fit people. I like a challenge, and I love the people.”
• Erin Snelgrove can be reached at 509-577-7684 or esnelgrove@yakimaherald.com.
| Owner: Roxanne Jolley Product or service: Comfortable shoes Location: Valley Mall, 2529 Main St., No. 104, Union Gap Length of ownership: The store has been in Jolley’s family for 33 years Number of employees: Three Average number of hours worked by owner each week: 30 |
