From cobbler to cornerstone: More than a century of service at American Shoe Shop

WENATCHEE — In the first of our series on businesses in the Wenatchee Valley that have been operating for more than 40 years, we profile American Shoe Shop, a family-rooted establishment that’s been serving the community for 105 years.

Started in 1920 by Harry Crutcher, the shop was originally at 2 South Mission Street, at the intersection with Palouse. After some success as primarily a cobbler — a repair shop, as new shoes were far more expensive in those days than simply repairing a worn out pair — Crutcher expanded into two larger locations on Orondo Avenue across from the newly-built Garland Building, which housed at the time both apartments upstairs and the Orondo Recreation Club, the home of the Wenatchee Chiefs, a farm team for first the Yankees and then the Cubs. That building still bears both the Garland and Orondo Recreation names, but they didn’t have the staying power that Crutcher’s shop had.

The Orondo Recreation Club became McGlinn’s, but American Shoe Repair, as it was known then, remained, first located at 110 Orondo in 1929, then at 114 Orondo in 1940, just before Harry sold the business to his son-in-law Al Parker.

Even then, American Shoe Repair was a community cornerstone. What else could you be, as an essential service across the street from the place where everyone went to smoke cigars and get their sports news?

The repair shop takes a new name and purpose

By 1940, it was well-established as a landmark business in the thriving town. Then in 1965, Parker took over a storefront at 118 North Wenatchee Avenue that sold unfinished furniture and toys and the business of selling shoes in earnest alongside the longstanding repair legacy that Harry Crutcher created was set in motion. “Repair” was finally replaced with “Shop” in the name.

In 1971, Parker sold the business to his own son and daughter-in-law, Jim and Joanne Parker. Businesses change hands all the time while continuing operations uninterrupted, but keeping things in the family had seemed the secret to American Shoe Shop’s success so far. One can only imagine how close that repair shop must have been to a trade school for cobblers, with secrets and tricks and methods passed down across the generations.

The younger Parker and his wife kept it as close to family as possible when they turned over the keys to the current owner. In 1991, Jim and Joanne hired Josh Tarr, who was in college at the time, and taught him the same skills that had been handed down across the years.

The current owner has nearly had it the longest

Businesses may change hands, but this one has been in the hands of Josh Tarr for almost 30 years. In 1996, the Parkers took a leap of faith and sold it to the 23-year-old Tarr, which may seem surprising, until you see Tarr at work.

There are a lot of trades and skills that are referred to as an art, but cobblery is unique among them because of the personal nature of shoes. This is not like fixture art. The shoes are an extension of the self, and there’s a reason that so many axioms — “Walk a mile in his shoes;” “The shoes make the man” — revolve around footwear.

What keeps the business going now isn’t some increased demand for shoes. It’s not that people are wearing out their soles any faster. And Josh Tarr doesn’t really even advertise, and hasn’t for about the last ten years, since he moved the store to its current location at 126 North Wenatchee Avenue. It’s that the time has come for American Shoe Shop, after all these years, to show their appreciation back to the community for letting them hang around this long.

The mission never really changed

It was three weeks to the day after Tarr moved into the current location when the Sleepy Hollow Fire swept through Wenatchee in June of 2015, destroying homes and setting alight nearly 3,000 acres. Tarr set a tone for the role of American Shoe Shop in the community right then and there, donating $20,000 worth of socks, shoes, sandals, boots — whatever the people who’d lost their homes needed. Not in the form of coupons or discounts, either. He posted a message on social media bidding them to come see him and he would do what he could to make them whole, with what resources he had available to him.

Josh makes it clear, however, that in doing so, he’s mimicking the behavior of those who came before him. “I was just doing what Jim and Joanne taught me, and what Jim’s dad taught him, and what Harry taught Al. I never wanted to make a big deal out of it, I just wanted the help to come, and I was the one who could help.”

Everyone has their niche. It turns out Josh’s is that he loves this town and has figured out how to serve best while still making a decent living himself. Tarr has been known to get a day-of-show call from the director of a musical at the PAC, wailing about a broken strap on a costume shoe, and he’s gone down to the shop to meet them and fix it before the performance. The name of his store is on all those programs and playbills you get when you’re at a concert or play across from his store — because he’s a sponsor.

“I’ve found that just serving the community is better than any advertising I could ever do,” Tarr says. It’s evident he believes it, too: You actually will hear him on the radio, but not with the vocal urgency of a commercial. He’s just thanking Wenatchee for the opportunity to be a part of this all.

The boss when Josh isn’t there, Kevin McKinley, has been with him since just after he bought the place. Kevin came on board in 1998, and when we ask him what keeps him there, he’s quick with the answer: “Josh Tarr keeps me working here. It’s in my blood, but Josh is just the best guy to work for.”

Sue McLaren echoes the sentiment. She’s been working for Josh for a number of years herself, and says it’s her “work family” that keeps her coming back every day. “And the customers, I love my customers,” she says.

As a matter of fact, even though Kevin is currently fabricating a strap for a purse at the workbench, repair is almost the smallest part of what Josh Tarr and the rest of the crew at the Shop do these days. It’s important to keep the repair service available though, Tarr says, “Because I sure would rather buy a shoe from a guy who knows how it was made than one who’s memorized all the colors it comes in.”

And people do love to buy shoes. American Shoe Shop doesn’t carry cheap shoes, or all the trendiest ones — unless the trendy ones are good shoes. There are no big name athletic shoes here, but there are running shoes and hiking shoes, work shoes and boots, sandals, fashion shoes and boots, even specialty boots specifically rated for Wildland Firefighters.

What makes a store into “the only place in town”

This store is not a secret. The location is central to the historic downtown, and its parking lot is the size of an entire building, right on the corner, so you can clearly see the shop from all sides. No matter where you are in Wenatchee, if you say “I got it at the shoe store,” people know exactly which store you’re talking about.

People come here because they know they’re going to get something good, and they’re going to get it from a salesperson who knows what they’re talking about. If they’re buying a dress shoe, they know they can bring it back here to get it shined up or get new laces. If they’re buying a work boot, they know they can bring it in to stretch it faster than they might break it in by just wearing it.

These are considerations that the big box stores not only don’t think of, but wouldn’t have the time to fulfill even if they did think of them. The personal aspect of shoes makes Josh and the crew at his store treat everyone personally, with plenty of time spent on each customer for perfect sizing and an understanding of the industry that lets even people who come in with terrible pain or posture issues or even a note from their doctor leave with a pair of shoes that’s perfect for them.

And after 105 years, people come to American Shoe Shop because it’s where their grandparents bought their first good new shoes. That’s the kind of history and legacy that money can’t buy.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media