We’re stepping into a piece of Kenosha history with Tony Chiappetta of Chiappetta Shoes. For over a century, their family has been at the forefront of expert shoe fitting and high-quality craftsmanship, blending old-school techniques with modern innovation. We’ll dive into the legacy of Chiappetta Shoes, how they’ve adapted over the years, and what sets them apart in the world of footwear. So, lace up and get ready for a fascinating conversation!
Visit Kenosha: Chiappetta Shoes has been a Kenosha institution for over 100 years. What’s the story behind the founding of the business, and how has it evolved over the generations?
Tony Chiappetta: Chiappetta Shoes has been around since 1921. Originally founded by our great grandfather Charles Pasquale Chiappetta, he immigrated from Italy to the U.S. and started up a shoe repair shop to get his new American life started. Like many Italian immigrants to Kenosha from that period, his original home city was Marano Marchesato, Cosenza, Calabria. One story that we like to push is that Pasquale's first cousin was Ralph Tenuta's mother (Tenuta's Delicatessen) and she let him stay at their house until he could get Chiappetta Shoes up and running and find his own place to live. His original skill was making custom shoes for disabled people and that ability to help feet in need has been passed down through four generations leading to our current Pedorthic operation. The cool thing I like to say is that over the course of 104 years, we're still essentially doing the same thing: great customer service and helping people solve problems. The two things that will keep any business alive for generations.
Fun Fact: Cosenza, Italy has been a Sister City of Kenosha’s since 1979.
Visit Kenosha: As a family-run business, how have you maintained your core values and traditions while adapting to modern retail challenges?
Tony Chiappetta: Being a family business and operating the way we do certainly allows for much flexibility in operations and the speed in which we need to change. My brother and I have a great relationship where I'm always the one pushing for new opportunities, always reaching out and looking for the next big opportunity. On the other hand, my brother Nick is the operations guy and makes sure our processes are locked down and the ship is running smoothly. It's a yin and yang relationship and I'm incredibly grateful to have that... Many small businesses don't have the ability to balance constantly pushing for new and at the same time to manage efficiencies.
Considering the core values and culture of Chiappetta Shoes, when I had my first kid I really thought about what makes us "Chiappetta's" and came up with this:
- We are Romans - We work hard, we are passionate, and driven. Being a Roman isn’t about ethnicity, it’s about attitude. Work hard, play hard. Being a Roman is about being the best at what we do.
- We are Shoe Dogs - Chiappetta Shoes has been in business since 1921 and every employee should take pride in that pedigree. As an organization we must continually develop our knowledge set in footwear, Pedorthics, and retailing.
- We are Fighters - Nothing is given to us. Each day is an opportunity to achieve. Learning how to fail is just as important winning. Anything worthwhile in life will not come easy. We fight.
Visit Kenosha: With the rise of e-commerce, how do you balance your physical store presence with your online store operations?
Tony Chiappetta: Chiappetta Shoes sells in-store, on ChiappettaShoes.com, as well as on Amazon. To compete in today's marketplace, you must be everywhere possible... Omni-channel and that's what the consumer expects from any business that they consider legit. It's not easy, dealing with online customer interactions is far different from an in-store situation where you're dealing with people face to face. We have been doing this for about nine years now and have the processes smooth to make anyone happy. Online is still a huge opportunity for Chiappetta Shoes, especially in the foot health space. If there's a problem, we are looking to build solutions!
Visit Kenosha: Custom orthotics are a major part of your business. Can you explain how this specialty sets you apart from competitors?
Tony Chiappetta:
Ain't No Betta Than Chiappetta. We take great pride in our custom orthotics and (we'll argue) there is not a better orthotic made in the United States compared to our inserts and the ongoing support.
When you talk to most people, custom orthotics have a very negative association because tons of people get burned by spending hundreds of dollars and not getting a solution the fits or is comfortable. We see garbage orthotics every day and it saddens me greatly. Thinking about the differences, we manufacture our custom orthotics in-house giving us an excellent viewpoint in how to make an insert. We're a shoe store so understanding the amount of space you have to work with on the inside of a shoe is crucial in making a custom orthotic fit from shoe to shoe. We're also super nerdy about materials and concocting the right recipe of materials to make a foot feel comfortable is one of the most fun parts of the job. At the end of the day, we can never say we've seen everything and that randomness of feet is what keeps us on our toes.
Visit Kenosha: What does being a part of the Kenosha community mean to Chiappetta Shoes?
Tony Chiappetta: It means everything... I laugh at the randomness that my great grandfather came to this area and we've stayed here all these years. We are lucky to be right in between Milwaukee and Chicago ... our area is prime for continued growth. Kenosha County has been a prime location to grow a business and family in. We’ve got Tenuta’s, Paielli’s, and Chiappetta’s… what more could you ask for!
Visit Kenosha: What are some of the most popular brands or products that customers love?
Tony Chiappetta: The trends in the shoe world have been dominated by a few familiar companies, Birkenstock, New Balance, Hoka, UGG, Brooks, and On. Athletics have been dominating the purchasing decisions of the general consumer as most of us are wearing much more casual outfits as compared to five years ago. It's funny because my brother and I have been around the game long enough to see a few cycles of major trends come through and traditional "comfort" brands have become trendy with younger kids. Look at the New Balance 990, we've sold that for three decades and it's always been an amazing shoe that we could sell to a 40-year-old dad, to a 90-year-old great grandma. But comfort has been dubbed cool and the 990 is a hot item even for high-school kids now. Birkenstock is in the same boat where it's a crazy simple basic that just works for everyone, and the style hasn't changed since the 1950's.
Outside of the athletic world, Chiappetta Shoes has a ton of great casual and dress brands largely from Europe that do very well for us. Pikolinos is one of my favorites that has that buttery soft leather, great colors, and works for most outfits. Taos, Naot, and Spring Footwear are a few additional brands that have been hitting home runs from a style standpoint and we've got a great assortment for this season.
Visit Kenosha: How do you stay on top of footwear trends while keeping comfort and quality at the forefront?
Tony Chiappetta: If you remember that question about company culture, we like to say we're "Shoe Dogs" and with that, our lives pretty much revolve around footwear. A while back in 2017, I started a private Facebook group called Shoe Dogs United and that has become the central forum for the shoe industry with all sides of the table represented in the 6,400+ members. Having that group is great to toss ideas around and get immediate feedback for what's working nationally. We also religiously attend the national shoe shows twice a year to make sure we're in the know about the new hot brands and styles for each season. LinkedIn has also been a great place to connect with other people in the shoe industry, so the internet isn't all bad!
Visit Kenosha: What’s it like working together as a family, and how do you navigate challenges unique to a family-run business?
Tony Chiappetta: It's great! We've got each other's back at all times and over the years, we have had major challenges but I believe in unconditional love. On the other hand, we're too damn busy and focused on the business to let problems divide us so it's a catch 22... We're too busy to pay attention to personal problems but then those things get bottled up and eventually come to a head. Compartmentalizing is essential for any business manager as you will never have all the time you need so solve every problem. My grandma Helen used to say, "get what you can get done today and worry about the rest tomorrow". With all of that, still making sure the personal needs are being met is a difficult balance that we are still navigating today.
Visit Kenosha: How do you ensure a strong company culture for your team?
Tony Chiappetta: We have our core company culture documents plastered all around the back of the shop! I love history, especially our business history and we have been lucky enough to collect a ton of our old ads and pictures. Having pictures of past generations, ads, and inspirational quotes around the shop really helps build a buy-in from our employees and allows them to be something more than just an employee.
Visit Kenosha: Can you walk us through a typical day for each of you? What does your work look like behind the scenes?
Tony Chiappetta: A typical day usually starts around 8am and ends around 6pm. Being a small business, we have a great team and we have the ability to delegate a lot of work but Nick and I still have our hands in all aspects of the business. One of the difficult things about building the business to what it is today is time management. At any point in the day, we can get great long-time customers that want to catch up and chat on the sales floor. Having the “customer comes first” mindset requires you to be flexible throughout the day and having the ability to pivot from spreadsheets to the sales floor is crucial. Behind the scenes, there are a few main aspects of our business with inventory management being the most important. Growing to our size, managing the costs of inventory is crucial to running a profitable business and that's where Nick is at his best. For myself, our Pedorthic operation is where a majority of my time is spent making sure our manufacturing processes are consistent. We also have another business we started a few years ago called Chiappetta Laboratory, where we manufacture and distribute Brown's Foot Bath. We have some big growth plans for this year so there's a few businesses we're working on. Always a lot of hats to wear!
Visit Kenosha: What are some of the most rewarding aspects of your day-to-day work? What are the biggest challenges?
Tony Chiappetta: The most rewarding work comes from two sources... hitting our growth marks and changing people’s lives! When it comes to the latter, we get some really challenging situations with foot problems and when we can solve those with shoes and inserts, getting the feedback that someone's life changed for the better is as good as it gets. When it comes to growing our business, seeing the fruits of our work in the overall performance is something we take great pride in on a weekly basis. We like to say we are "operators"... day-to-day is crucial to our success. No days off.
Visit Kenosha: What’s the most memorable customer story or feedback you’ve received?
Tony Chiappetta: Nicky and I have been in the game for so long, myself full time since 2008 and Nick since 2010 and there are too many stories to share. We always love to help customers before a big vacation get the right shoes for the trip, then have them stop back in and show us pictures and share the great times they had. Those relationships are truly special in retail that only come from really bonding with our customers. When it comes to making custom orthotics, any positive feedback is always welcomed. Our goal is to help people live life better and if we hit our mark, that’s what makes us happy.
One other note that I’ve got to add… when we were younger, 1990’s and early 2000’s, we used to have a lot of old-time customers come in and tell us stories about our Grandpa Fred. He died at the very young age of 44 in 1970. We obviously never got to meet him but it was always incredibly awesome to hear about what he was like, especially the ones where his crew used to close down The Bartley House and run a little card game out of there once a week. Just little things about who he was really added to our childhood and our sense of what it meant to be a Chia.
Visit Kenosha: Where do you see Chiappetta Shoes in the next 10 years?
Tony Chiappetta:
Our mission is to be “the 1st step when solving foot pain” and we take that to heart.
Over the years, we have learned a lot and built great systems creating a world class Pedorthic operation for the in-store experience. Using our knowledge and newer technology we plan on rolling those systems out through our website, giving people a quick and easy diagnostic tool as well as a world class product recommendation engine. Additional stores are always in the mix, but as of the last 104 years, we’ve always believed in having one big headache versus a bunch of little ones so one big store is what we’ve aspired to so far. I think the world will be far different with AGI coming soon and robots, how we navigate the new world with be a challenge for all of us.
