Interview from 2014
I have always been a shoe whore. My first memory of buying shoes is from primary school when my godmother took me shopping for the one pair I would be wearing for the entire school year. It would have been a wise choice to get the sneakers she was coaxing me towards - but I was eight years old and I was very excited by the opportunity of being allowed to pick out the ones I really wanted. Not surprising then that I choose the flashiest dress shoe in the store. They were ridiculous on the basketball court and instead of adapting to footwear that my other teammates were wearing, I quit stomping around the court. Consequently, my lifelong love of fancy footwear began. When I was seventeen I thought I’d died and gone to heaven when I arrived at the shoe department at Wilkes Bashford in San Francisco’s Union Square. This is where I bought my first pair of very expensive shoes. Every penny I had saved from my after school job went into buying a handmade pair of leather loafers by Vittorio Ricci.
As you can tell I have no problem purchasing shoes. Nowadays I spend my sleepless nights buying high heels online. It’s become an addiction that is as bad as gambling. I wish there was a shoe-addicts-anonymous meeting where I could share my problems with other like-minded people. I recently had a Pump Pop-Up sale and sold over 50% of my footwear. The queens came by in droves.
So when Gimme Shoes opened up its doors right around the corner from my tiny Tenderloin apartment in the 80’s I was hooked. It was a tiny space in the bottom of an apartment building and had just a few shelves with exposed brick walls. But each shoe was special. The owner Jary Warwick has continually tapped into European markets to stock some of the most coveted styles of men’s and women’s shoes by some designers that no other stores in the country carry.
And tap he did. Jary began travelling regularly between San Francisco and London, buying up extra stock from the more avant-garde Kings Road and Kensington Market shops. In the mid 90’s I worked part-time for Jary at the Hayes Street, Fillmore and now closed Grant Street locations. I even got to travel to Paris one year on a shoe buy - it was the dead of winter and I was completely lost. There were more shoe vendors than I could ever have imagined. Though he didn’t buy the silver lace-up Dries Van Noten men’s shoe I obsessed over, somehow the store still managed to survive...
With the influx of so many new people to this ever-shifting neighborhood, I wondered how it has influenced Jary’s shoe buying. With two locations in San Francisco just minutes away from each other in Hayes Valley, it’s easy to fall on trend with their ever-changing and growing selection.The 416 Hayes shop focuses on street styles and American labels, while the newer location at 381 Hayes offers European designer labels, explains Jary.
It’s so important to shop at local queer owned businesses.
How long has Gimme Shoes lived in Hayes Valley?
Over 20 years.
What inspired you to relocate from your original Post Street location?
I moved the store to Hayes Valley in early 1993, after going to one of their infamous block parties in late ’92. The neighborhood was in the nascent stage of becoming the popular destination that it is today.
I’ve worked for your company in the mid 90’s and am still thrilled to see that you are employing some of the same people. How is this formula working?
I like to think we create the kind of environment for our employees that keeps them from leaving! In all seriousness, in this kind of specialty retail, it’s nice for the customer to be able to rely on constant customer service. We make sure everyone is up to date on their product and designer knowledge, to make the buying experience more enjoyable.
How has the rapid change occurring in Hayes Valley affected the selection you carry in the store?
The neighborhood is changing quite a bit, with folks moving into the new apartment and condo buildings sprouting up everywhere joining the neighborhood regulars. Now that we have two stores on Hayes Street, we are able to offer a more diverse array of styles. Our 416 Hayes shop focuses on street styles and American labels, while the newer location at 381 Hayes offers our European designer labels. We also keep our San Francisco natives in mind when bringing in more practical, everyday footwear that can transition easily for an active lifestyle.
With the influx of new clientele into the neighborhood, where do you project your shoebuy is headed to?
Hayes Valley is fast becoming a destination neighborhood. Our customers are much more conscious of where shoes are manufactured and are willing to spend a little more to support locally made goods and ethical production.
I feel like you’ve been very practical in your buy of women’s stiletto heels. Why would you say that is?
It’s really more about what each designer puts out every season. Some years, it’s more about flats, others- the focus is on wedges. Next season, we will definitely see more heeled styles coming from Dries Van Noten, Robert Clergerie, and Loeffler Randall. The economy is starting to pick up, and people feel like dressing up again. Heels will be more in demand.
How has globalization and the creation of a world economy affected your shoe buy?
It hasn’t affected us at all.
What has consistently been a popular shoe style for the store, one that you might even consider a signature SF style?
Boots never fail. People want something they can walk the hills in and will carry them all year long. With our chilly summers and mild winters, boots are a great investment, whether they’re an ankle style or knee high.
You carry an extensive collection of shoes and boots by the designers Florentini + Baker. Can you tell me a little about their history and why you’ve invested in them?
We started carrying the line about 15 years ago, right when they first started. The product is consistently beautiful and made to last. It’s one of the very few products left on the market today where you pay for the craftsmanship, and not just a name. Still completely hand-made in Italy, they use both vegetable-tanned leathers and vegetable dyes for less impact on the environment. We always have wait lists for when the new shipments arrive!
The athletic shoe trend continues to grow, especially in the world of big name designers. How much of your business is based on this trend?
We’ve always carried an extensive collection of sneakers, but the past few seasons we’ve expanded into the designer lines with sneakers from Margiela, Paul Smith, Y-3, and Alexander McQueen Puma. Customers seem to really respond to this trend, so it’s doing quite well for us. They’re fun, affordable, and most important, comfortable. Next Spring we will be adding Stella McCartney Adidas.
I really love your website - it’s rare to find specialty shoes in limited quantities online with some gorgeous pictures and detail. Does the website generate a lot of traffic for you?
After launching our web store a few years back, we are now able to reach customers across the globe. We have orders coming in from all over Europe, Australia, and even Japan.
What was your main aspiration in opening a shoe store?
When I started the business in 1983 there was nowhere to shop for interesting shoes (or shoes of any kind other than a few athletic stores and the department stores downtown). So I had the entire SF bay market to tap into. It was easy to go to London and by extra stock from the edgy Kings Road and Kensington Market shops. So I took a leap.
What shoes are you wearing currently? If they could talk, what would they say about you?
Paul Smith Navy Suede Creepers. They would say “You haven’t changed your look much in 3 decades”. But actually, I am more of a casual sneaker or Red Wing boot type.
What is your shoe trend forecast?
We’re not trendy.