ShoeHouse

**ShoeHouse** is a shoe company that operate 28 stores in 4 states. It also owns the ShoeHouse product line with a partnership with Nike's Converse subsidiary. It is headquartered in Richardstown, North Carolina.

## History

In 1952, two entrepreneurs Charles Will and Marco Will opened up a shoe store in downtown Matchboxtown called Will Brothers, it sold shoes, pants, and sporting equipment. But however in September 1952, it stopped selling pants and sporting equipment, instead solely focused on shoes.

In 1959, it opened a few more locations. And these locations were successful.

In 1968, the first ShoeHouse location opened up at Matchboxtown Mall in Matchboxtown, North Carolina. The new concept's name is an honor of Haines Shoe House in Hellam Township, Pennsylvania, and which Charles is a fan of the special house. As years goes on, more ShoeHouse locations opened up, and it was a major success for the company.

In the 1980s, it became the first chain in Matchboxtown to exclusely sell the revived/popular Converse Chuck-Taylor All Stars. As a result, ShoeHouse began to have a long term relationship with Converse (and eventually Nike, which acquired Converse in 2003).

In 1987, Will Brothers Shoe Company was renamed ShoeHouse Inc. to reflect the successful ShoeHouse chain. By that time, it had 10 ShoeHouse locations, and 4 Will Brothers locations. Eventually after the rebrand, ShoeHouse began dissolving the Will Brothers brand, and started closing 2 locations, and sold 1 location to Woolworth's.

In 1997, Converse, which owned 20% of ShoeHouse, acquired more shares of the company. In 2001, after Converse filed for bankruptcy, ShoeHouse also felled into bankruptcy. In early 2003, 10% shares of ShoeHouse were sold to CP Capital, and pressured Converse to sell off its shares of ShoeHouse, as a result, Will family sued CP Capital for breach of contract, claiming that the purchase was to get Converse out of the relationship, the case continued on until 2007, and which the lawsuit was settled, with Happy Star Capital selling off the remaining shares of ShoeHouse to the Will family.

In 2009, it began converting its rural stores into **ShoeHouse Rural**, and in 2015, it began converting the locations into **ShoeHouse Outlet**, which was highly more successful. In 2017, it reopened a few smaller rural stores under the **ShoeHouse Express** brand.

In 2018, Inspiration Holdings announced to acquire Converse's 48% shares of the company. The deal was approved in February 2019. The relationship with Converse continued on. Converse decided for their retail store concept to focus on its branded stores, and Converse was trying to find a buyer for its shares of ShoeHouse. This effectively led to ShoeHouse Inc. becoming a privately held entity of Inspiration. Inspiration Holdings was founded in 2010 by Susan Will and Craig Will.

## Timeline

* 1952 - Will Brothers opened up in Downtown Matchboxtown by Charles and Marco Will.
* 1959 - It open 5 Will Brothers locations.
* 1965 - Will Brothers closed 3 locations.
* 1967 - It started a new concept ShoeHouse at Matchboxtown Mall.
* 1980s - Will Brothers started a long term relationship with Converse, Inc. and began exclusively selling its shoes at WB stores and ShoeHouse stores.
* 1987 - Will Brothers Shoe Company was renamed ShoeHouse Inc., and it had 10 SH locations and 4 WB locations.
* 1997 - Converse, which owned 20% of ShoeHouse, acquired more shares of the company.
* 2001 - ShoeHouse filed for bankruptcy, and closed 4 ShoeHouse locations.
* 2003 - 10% shares of ShoeHouse were sold to CP Capital
* July 2003 - Will family sued CP Capital for breach of contract, claiming that the purchase was to get Converse out of the relationship.
* December 2003 - ShoeHouse emerged from bankruptcy.
* 2007 - Will family settles lawsuit with CP and CP sold its shares.
* 2009 - ShoeHouse rural stores became ShoeHouse Rural, and 2 rural stores were closed down.
* 2012 - ShoeHouse partnered up with DeHellar Retails for more locations of SH at DH's malls.
* 2015 - ShoeHouse Rural was dissolved.
* 2017 - Converse decided to focus on its branded stores and announced to sell off ShoeHouse's shares.
* 2019 - Inspiration Holdings acquires ShoeHouse Inc.

## See also

* Richardstown Mall
* DeHellar Retails