With the Summer Solstice in the rearview mirror, we reached out to independent shoe retailers to get their respective takes on four key issues – Artificial Intelligence, Store Technology, Tariffs, and their Back-To-School business.

AI was all the buzz in Q2, particularly on Wall Street, given the growing global investments in it and proclamations about how it might alter both the business environment and individual job responsibilities in the months and years ahead. According to reports, more organizations are shifting away from premium-priced AI models in favor of “model routing,” which sends simple tasks to cheaper, open-source, or local Chinese AI models. Meanwhile, there is mounting momentum for federal oversight of AI and calls for regulation on how data centers utilize the U.S. power grid.

Whether they embrace some aspect of AI today or not, most retailers — no matter the size of their business — realize the need to continue embracing and utilizing technology to improve efficiency and, quite frankly, keep up with the times we are living in.

As for tariffs, they created widespread sticker shock across the fashion industry last summer. Retail prices jumped up more than 4 percent a year ago on key footwear brands amid a mad scramble by some manufacturers to shift their sourcing to new markets and avoid steep duties on China-made products. In late February, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated tariffs imposed through the International Emergency Economic Power Act (IEEPA) by the Trump Administration. But today, nearly five months later, fallout from tariffs —everything from consumer class-action lawsuits to enduring supply chain disruptions in some circles —persists.

AI at Independent Retail

Is any aspect of your business utilizing AI? If so, how, and is it making operations easier? If not, do you see yourself implementing it soon?

“We’ve begun integrating AI into several areas of our business and see it becoming an increasingly important part of retail operations moving forward. Today, we are utilizing AI to help improve internal communication, assist with reporting, streamline content creation for marketing, and support leadership development by helping organize and summarize business data faster. What excites me most is not replacing people, but allowing our teams to spend less time on administrative work and more time focused on what matters most, serving customers and creating exceptional in-store experiences. We believe AI will become a major efficiency driver for independent retailers over the next few years.” - Adam Beck, Beck’s Shoes

“We are mostly using AI software with our merchandise team. This will be a huge improvement for analyzing sales and inventory data.” - Troy Dempsey, The Heel Shoe Fitters

“We began over a year ago using AI to rewrite and update our handbook. It made the overhaul quick, consistent, and easier to read and understand. It gave the handbook a much clearer perspective and a central theme that reinforced our culture and our mission. We are currently experimenting with AI technology to analyze selling reports that can guide us in at-once replenishment, markdowns, and our future commitments, as well as for marketing ideation and tracking trends.” -Abba Carmichael, Abbadabba’s

“We use AI to create marketing materials that were previously difficult to create, and we also utilize it to raise our scores online [Google].”- John Luck, Lucky Shoes

“We are actively using AI in several areas of the business. For us, the biggest value has been speed and organization. We use AI to help with product content, internal communications, process documentation, marketing concepts, lifestyle images, data cleanup, reporting support, writing code, and general problem-solving across the business. That said, we view AI as a tool, not a replacement for the human side of retail. Our business is still built around expert service, fit knowledge, relationship building, and hands-on problem-solving. AI has helped remove friction from the back office so our team can spend more time focused on customers.” - Dillon Dardano, Dardano’s Shoes

“No. We would love to make some of our processes more intelligent and even automated, but that leap into technology is daunting. I can half-jokingly say that we are still trying to stop our VCR from flashing 88:88 all the time…” - Chris Stanley, Lamey Wellehan

Talking Tariffs

Have tariffs impacted your sales or altered your ordering versus a year ago? If so, positively or negatively?

“Tariffs have added another layer of complexity to buying, but they have not caused us to dramatically pull back on our ordering compared with 2025. Our approach has been more measured than reactive. We personally see and feel the positive impact of these tariffs with the increase they have driven in AOV (avg. order value). Yes, we are paying more for our products, but profit per unit has gone up across the board.

We are paying closer attention to vendor communication, margin pressure, price increases, delivery timing, and category exposure. In some cases, it has made us more intentional about how we place orders and how deep we go in certain categories. But our overall buying philosophy has not changed: we still want to be in stock on the right product from the right brands. The biggest challenge is uncertainty. Independent retailers need to protect margin, but we also need to protect the customer experience. If customers come in looking for quality footwear and we are under-inventoried, that is a bigger long-term problem.” - Dillon Dardano, Dardano’s Shoes

“Tariffs continue to create uncertainty across retail, and like many independent retailers, we are watching closely. Our overall approach has been to stay disciplined and agile.

Rather than significantly increasing inventory positions out of reaction, we are focusing heavily on smarter inventory management, tighter SKU productivity, and maintaining healthy margins while preserving flexibility. Independent retailers cannot afford to overreact in either direction, so we are taking a measured approach and remaining cautious as the second half of 2026 unfolds.

The biggest challenge is simply unpredictability, and that forces retailers to become even sharper operators.” -Adam Beck, Beck’s Shoes

“I would say not much of a change. We’re just trying to best follow the trends at our business and plan for our growth goals until we see some indicators of changes in consumer demand.” - Troy Dempsey, The Heel Shoe Fitters

“Thus far, tariffs have not affected our sales. Volume is up for the year, and we are grateful and hopeful that our customers will continue to come to us for the service and product that they expect and deserve.” - Abba Carmichael, Abbadabba’s

How Retailers Are Using Technology In-Store

Have you implemented any new technology into your business this year? If so, what and how is it working out?

“We continue to invest heavily in technology that connects our in-store, online, repair, inventory, and customer data environments. As an independent retailer, we must make different systems work together in a way that supports the customer experience.  

A major focus for us this year has been improving integrations between our POS, Shopify, inventory systems, loyalty tools, digital marketing platforms, and reporting. We are also working on stronger internal automation around inventory accuracy, customer communication, product data, gift cards, and operational reporting.

The goal is not technology for the sake of technology. The goal is to make our stores easier to run, make our team more informed, and create a smoother experience for customers across every touchpoint.” -Dillon Dardano, Dardano’s Shoes

“It is in the pipeline. Last year, we planned our projects for 2026, and two of them were technology focused. One is to integrate the data from our ERP system with our marketing platforms. The other is to learn to use the automatic stock balancing and fulfillment options that are part of our ERP. Both projects have started, but I expect it will be a few months until we are in the testing mode.” - Chris Stanley, Lamey Wellehan

“We added two Albert Foot Scanners on our sales floor about a year ago. We’re happy with how it will elevate the experience our customers have with us.” - Troy Dempsey, The Heel Shoe Fitters

“We are integrating all updates into our existing system. With Shopify, AI is being incorporated into it, so it’s being forced upon us.” - Alexandra Maltezos, Tenni-Moc’s

“Technology continues to be a major investment area for us in 2026. At Beck’s Shoes, our customer experience has always been centered around service and fit expertise, and we’re leaning heavily into technology that enhances that promise. This year, we’ve expanded interactive foot scanning technology across our stores, allowing customers to better understand their foot structure while helping our team make more personalized product recommendations. We’re also rolling out traffic counting systems across all locations, giving us stronger visibility into store traffic, conversion metrics, and customer behavior patterns.

For us, technology is not about replacing human interaction; it’s about giving our team better tools to deliver a higher level of service.” - Adam Beck, Beck’s Shoes

The Back-To-School Biz

Do you do much business around Back-To-School time? If so, what trends, brands or categories are you expecting to be strong?

“While Back-To-School use to figure in our buys and sales significantly, it no longer does, we find that the Back-To-Travel season(s) figure stronger for us now." - Abba Carmichael, Abbadabba’s

“I’ve been more concerned with ordering not with my heart anymore, but everything from reporting data.” -Alexandra Maltezos, Tenni-Moc’s

“In Ohio, our tax-free event has been cut from 14 days to three days, and the limit on tax-free goods has been reduced from $500 to $75. For this reason, Back-To-School will be severely diminished. Plain black athletic shoes are the go-to merch for school uniforms, and we are loaded up.” - John Luck, Lucky Shoes

“No, we are actually very cautious about Q3. So far, 2026 business activity has been very tepid, almost lethargic. Sales, foot traffic, and other key metrics are down over 2025. Some other metrics are OK, so it isn’t all doom-and-gloom, but we are concerned about 2026. There haven’t been any trends that we think will affect the B-T-S season.” - Chris Stanley, Lamey Wellehan

“We want Back-To-School to be an important seasonal opportunity for Beck’s Shoes, particularly in family-focused markets where fit, comfort, and durability are priorities. What we continue to see is a growing consumer focus on comfort-driven footwear, versatility, and products that support all-day wear. Athletic lifestyle footwear, recovery footwear, supportive casual products, and brands with strong comfort stories continue to perform well.

More broadly, I believe today’s consumer is becoming increasingly educated about foot health, and retailers who can combine product selection with true fit expertise will continue to win. At Beck’s Shoes, our long-standing philosophy remains simple: We Measure. We Scan. We Custom Fit. That service-first approach continues to differentiate us in an increasingly competitive retail environment.” - Adam Beck, Beck’s Shoes

“We see meaningful opportunity with teachers and school staff. That has become our real Back-To-School focus. Teachers are on their feet all day, often moving between classrooms, standing on hard floors, and needing footwear that can keep up with long hours without looking overly clinical or athletic. We actively engage that audience during the Back-To-School season and focus on helping teachers find comfortable, supportive work shoes that still feel professional and versatile.

For 2026, we expect strong interest in supportive sneakers, casual comfort shoes, slip-ons, lightweight clogs, recovery footwear, and anything that blends cushioning, support, and easy everyday style.

For us, the opportunity is less about selling a ‘school shoe’ and more about solving a real workplace problem for educators. When we can help a teacher feel better at the end of a long day, that is exactly the kind of service-driven retail we want to be known for. Overall, the peaks and valleys of our business are pretty level. B-T-S is not a big push for The Heel. I suspect it would be more so if we were based in or around a shopping center versus being a destination store. We do, however, have a very successful Tent Sale at the beginning of August.” - Troy Dempsey, The Heel Shoe Fitters