The Just for Feet store chain doesn’t mind if customers rest their feet in the store.
Each store has a snack bar, and video monitors for watching sports, company President Harold Ruttenberg said. There’s a basketball court, too.
The Birmingham, Ala.-based athletic and outdoors shoe chain expects to open two 18,000-square-foot superstores in South Florida on Dec. 10. The stores, which each employ 80 people, will be at the Oakwood Plaza shopping center in Hollywood, and on Sunrise Boulevard outside Sawgrass Mills shopping center in Sunrise.
“We are to athletic shoes what Toys “R” Us is to toys and what Incredible Universe is to electronics,” Ruttenberg said. Where mall-based athletic shoe retailers sell 200 to 700 brands, Just for Feet carries 4,000 to 5,000 brands, he said.
One competitor said he isn’t worried. Sports Authority hasn’t been hurt by Just for Feet in other markets, but mall-based shoe store chains have, President Jack Smith said. The Lauderdale Lakes-based company carries a full line of sporting goods and clothing, along with shoes.
Just for Feet thinks it can guarantee a big turnout for its grand openings in South Florida. That’s because the company plans to throw dollar bills off the roof.
Ruttenberg said the store chain can do this without causing a riot. Customers compete for the money grouped by age and sex.
“It’s quite something to see,” he said.
