Shoefly
A Labor of Love and Family
According to Meg Roebuck, what brought her and future Shoefly co-owner Jana Rome together in 2003 was an idea – and seeing a gap in the market. The two working moms had bonded on instant messenger over the fact that there didn’t seem to be a pure shoe store for women in their town of Homewood, a suburb of Birmingham in Alabama. In spite of there being lots of little retail villages and boutique stores, there was a significant void when it came to trendy women’s shoes and fashions.
Together, Roebuck and Rome set about to rectify this – opening Shoefly, a distinct, one-stop destination boutique for women’s shoes and clothing. Their goals from the beginning were to offer a personalized experience, curate and comment on the latest trends and styles, and provide footwear, clothing, and jewelry to customers looking for something different from the big chain store experience.
“We try to offer the best and most in-style options for people at non boutique price,” said Roebuck. “We get a lot of comments about how people love coming to us instead of a large chain store.”
Since then, the store became a labor of love and family: over the course of 13 years, husbands and children were enlisted to be temporary staff and helpers. By 2016, Shoefly could boast a staff of two full-time employees, four part-time girls during the week, and several teachers who helped out by filling on Saturdays.
Looking for More from a POS Solution
Roebuck and Rome first launched Shoefly with the Fashion Sense POS software – which quickly proved to not be a good fit for the burgeoning shop. In particular, the fact that the software was so quickly outdated – combined with remote, “not great” customer service – left them wanting more.
On the advice of their business management and research consultant, the ladies at Shoefly got in touch with – and eventually signed up for – CerTek Software’s Aritsan POS. Very quickly they found that CerTek was just the solution they were looking for.
“Moving to CerTek was great in the grand scheme of things,” commented Roebuck. In particular, Roebuck was pleased with how simple it was getting their staff trained and using the software – quite a feat, given that several of their staff only work part time or fill in. “We had NO problems getting everyone up to speed on the system,” added Roebuck.
One of the things that made Shoefly unique when it came to their use of Artisan POS was that they were one of the initial few stores using the software designed to function on a Mac OS. While the initial Shoefly launch had a “few hiccups,” the “great customer service” by CerTek made the entire experience painless.
“We were a guinea pig on Mac,” said Roebuck. “It was a work in progress and we don’t mind that! We offer feedback and it feels like we’re part of the process with this version of Artisan.”
Since that initial launch, usage of Artisan on Apple OSX has been steadily climbing. A total of 12 CerTek clients have successfully implemented Artisan on their Mac-based system.
With Artisan POS’s industry-leading functionality, Shoefly was able to simply and easily upload a unique SKU for every purchase item they get from market. This has helped immensely for the shop, which specializes in offering the latest unique pieces from designers like Calvin Klein, Dolce Vita, Frye, Ella Moss, and more.