The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-02-28
Result of Logical Evolution Of
Well Conducted Shoe Selling
Establishment.
III. W. DABNEY & co.
IN LARGER QUARTERS.
Interesting Story of Business
Covering 33-Year Period Is
Told by Manager Dabney.
Tc Have Opening Tomor-
row,

| 1t is a very rare thing for a firm
1 10 make a change OF such sensa-
tional Importance as that Of r. w
I Dabney a. Co.
/ A few years ago the idea Of a shoe
store ms large as that now in the
/ large building at Fifth and Broad
would have been pronounced impos-
! sible.
! Today it Is simply the logical evo-
luton OF a wonderful shoe business
| 1t means that Richmond now has a
shoe store which is equal to its de-
mands.
In this regard Richmond now
ranks with cities as big as Chicago,
Cleveland. and even New York. None
can boast of "A better located shoe
store. with better expanse of SHOW
windows and better facilities for
serving its patrons
To the thousa nds and thousa nds
who pass the corner of Fifth and
| Broad. this new shoe palace pre-
sents a vefjtahle panorama of shoe
styles sn3 e&hihits---ali that is late
and clever In American-made shoes
and that means the shoe world.
Comfort and Service.
The entire first floor OF this build
ing Is given over TO mems and wo-
mems shoes. Every device and ia
cillty which may add to the com
| fort and service of It's patrons is
! found here. The color scheme IS
rich and sefned. all cases being I'm
ished In dull standardized mahogany.
On one side are the seemingly end
less tiers or shoe styles for women.
That any one should fnil 10 find eS-
actiy the color style and size in
stocks OF such mammoth proportions
| seems inconceivabse.
/ On the other side Ia the mems
taken care Of as the fair sex. Con-
venlentiy placed seats make the mat.
ter of being correctly fitted easy and
comfortable.
Here r. w Dabney reigns. with
the efficient assistance of his part
ners. Waiter u. Scott and l.. w.
Nuckols. When asked about the his
tory OF his house. Mr.. Dabney said:
Story of the business.
The only way / can tell how LONG
| I have been in business Is to look
up my history and find the year Car
field was assassinated. which was
thirty-three years ago.
Richmond mas moved fast since
that time and the building we then
occupied Is now part OF the Kauf-
| mann store, +e3 East Broad. At
that time this location was the West
end Of the business section.
From there We moved to Third
and Broad. where we stayed for
twenty-three years 1t Is matter
| of interest that started in the very
location where my former employer
failed was only seventeen years
old when | started In business for
myself.
since that time there have been
many changes. The firm name
changed to Dabney * Saunders, then
to Dabney & Johnston. and finally.
| ten years ago. TO F. w. Dahney Il
Co. when Messrs Scott and Nuekols
joined me as partners,
Mr. Sect had been employed by
a Main Stree. concern which ] bought
out and he came to work for me at
the princeiy salary Of SIS per week.
Needless to say. ii did not take him
long to show what he was worth, so
| that, when the partnership of Dab
ney a. Johnston was dissolved, he
bought an interest.
Tn From Foot OF Ladder.
Mr.. Nackols, too. started at the
| foot of the ladder. l remember the
day sae came into my store. Said
/ he was going 10 school at the time.
but would like to work for me on
Saturdays. but he didn't want any
pay He came the next Saturday and
proved such a crackerjack salesman
| that ] gave him a dollar for his
work---by the way. this was the first
dollar he ever earned
| Mr.. Nuekols has been outside a
great deal. looking after the inter
| 40 Apyv hnf Ia fYffro he Will
| be in the store TO take care OF his
| hundreds Of. friends
The shoe business has seen re-
markable changes during all the
years we have been connected with
lit.
| Regardless of what people say
about the good olden days, shoes to-
/ day are far better In every way than
they used to be.
WAY, people used to buy their
shoes altogether by number There
was no such thing as fitting shoe
Today we can At any foot better than
/, lower price. Only experts are en-
1 ployed to wait on the trade. men who
[ have studied Ire anatomical con-
struction OF the foot and know how
to insure proper comfort and ease
The sales In Oldcn Days.
| "I.eathers, too. have improved
The only leather in vogue In former
years which was as good then as II
\ is now, is the French calf The tre-
/ mendous improvements which pro-
duced the CHROME tanned and other
1 feathers were a matter of recent
/ years.
] .lt is almost iudicrous the way
l shoes were sold in those olden days
/ (-arfous were unknown. The shoes
came packed twelve pairs to the box
land each pair was tied together by
4 the laces. Naturally these often got
tangled, and I've often had to spend
\ half AN hour nntangIfng r mass 81
4 ssaoes. to lind the right size for Z
waiting customerA
4 .6hoAs we're net ~ we'll made