With the first waves of the holiday shopping season gathering on the horizon and the turn of the calendar year fast approaching, we checked in with a few independent retailers to talk about community engagement, brand partnerships, and the use of social media. How do these things help to build community and drive traffic to their stores?

The Community Pulse

For independent footwear retailers, community engagement is an essential, ongoing investment, even if its immediate returns cannot always be charted on a spreadsheet.

Alicia Murray of Murray’s Shoes in Littleton, CO, looks back at a neighborhood event the store was involved in over the summer as a good example of this kind of connection. Other businesses in the community were involved, as were several of Murray’s Shoes’ brand partners.

“In July, several businesses in our area came together for a community block party, and it was a huge success! It was great to see so many local stores participate by offering fun specials, games, and activities throughout the day,” she says. “Our vendors were incredible partners and really helped make the event special. They provided some great gifts and giveaways, including more than 10 pairs of shoes. Our customers had a blast, and it was wonderful to see everyone coming together, supporting local businesses, and enjoying the day. Events like this have been a great way for us to connect with the community, create excitement around our store, and bring in additional foot traffic.”

Community engagement for retailers is also about showing up to support others.

Brenda Felger of Felger’s Footwear in Houma, Louisiana, tells us: “This is a very difficult metric to quantify, but in this effort, we have partnered with several non-profit festivals this fall, my church parish school, and Hero Fest benefiting first responders. We’ve always partnered with the school whose parents come into our store for school shoes. Last year, we partnered with Hero Fest because it’s just the right thing to do. Many of our heroes come in for their running shoes, so we do notice some foot traffic from that. In addition, we partner with the local hospitals and conduct special events there for the hospital personnel. We feel like the more we do in the community, the more we benefit.”

Meanwhile, in Provo, Utah, Will Nettleton of Modern Shoe and Ossine Shoes approaches community connection by redefining what his business actually offers. By stepping outside the four walls of his storefront and heading straight to wellness environments, he shifts the conversation from commodities to genuine human care.

“We do not sell shoes, we sell comfort,” says Nettleton. “Providing expert advice and shoe fittings that make a true difference in someone’s life. We have seen an amazing response in sharing what we do with others. Specifically at health fairs, safety events, any place we can set up a booth to talk with people about their foot problems. Many will come in-store and have one of our professional fitters go through the process of fitting their feet with a comfortable solution.

This creates positive outcomes that solidify a lifelong customer who advocates to others for our store.”

Brand Partnerships on the Floor

When it comes to how brands can help stores most effectively sell their products, Felger notes that among the most impactful brand strategies is to simply put the product directly on the people selling it.

“The best help besides co-op, of course, is when staff is seeded with pairs to wear in store,” explains Felger. “I can’t tell you how many times a customer asks us what we are wearing because if we wear it, it must be comfortable. Some of the brands that do very well with us are Aetrex, Hoka, Kizik, Mount to Coast, Brooks, and more.”

At Murray’s Shoes, the retailer also finds value in face-to-face education and professional development.

“The support that has been most effective for us is when brands provide detailed information on new products and, even better, when their representatives come into the store and spend time with our associates,” shares Murray. “Having the opportunity to learn directly from the brand helps educate our entire team and gives associates the knowledge and confidence to speak with customers about the products.”

This year, Murray’s Shoes has had representatives from brands such as Oboz, Salewa, Kizik, Naot, and New Balance come in and review their products with the store staff, Murray says, noting that such visits are valuable for not only newer associates, but also for long-tenured employees.

“It was a great refresher and helped everyone better understand the features, benefits, and differences between products,” explains Murray. “Some brands also had sales contests and offered prizes to our top salespeople, which added motivation for the team. We saw a noticeable increase in sales for each brand following the rep visits, so we feel that hands-on product education and associate engagement are some of the most effective ways brands can support us.”

Online Community

What role does social media play in building community for these retailers? It has evolved into a dynamic tool capable of shifting inventory in real time.

Felger has noticed a distinct shift in what captures the attention of scrolling consumers, leaning heavily into video content to drive her marketing campaigns.

“We have been doing more videos lately that are great for engagement,” she tells us. “A regular post on Facebook or Instagram doesn’t get nearly as much attention, but the videos are awesome! We ran a summer clearance campaign and were able to move a good bit of product with that. We are now running a video campaign for a new brand coming into the store. Fingers crossed it gets some attention too.”

Murray notes that this type of digital outreach is not a side project—it is an important contributor to the retailer’s success.

“Social media is crucial to our business, and I truly feel it plays a key role in helping us survive and grow as a small business,” she says. “Our marketing team does an amazing job creating engaging content and advertising on Facebook and Instagram, which helps us stay connected with our community and to keep us top of mind. We also make a point of promoting all our events on Facebook, and we see a direct impact on store traffic as a result. We regularly have customers come into the store and tell us they saw one of our ads, posts, or videos on Facebook, and that is what motivated them to visit us. For us, social media is much more than just a way to advertise products. It allows us to promote events, showcase what makes our store unique, connect with our local community, and ultimately bring new and returning customers through our doors. Facebook and Instagram have been especially effective in helping us reach customers and drive traffic to the store.”