Small Business Q&A: Holly Breen from Walk Shoes - hollyBreenWALKshoes

In this week’s Q&A, Kehlan talks to Holly Breen, from Walk Shoes, in Cork.

Holly came back to Ireland in the height of the recession and opened the shop and an online presence.

So, where does Walk Shoes begin?

“It all begins in 2009. We actually started trading in that year.

So, we did the reverse of what was happening to businesses around the country at the time.

We came back from Australia and so with my partner, Barry, we opened up Walk Shoes and we’ve been trading successfully since then.

We sell very niche brands and ones that are handmade and eco-friendly. They look good, they’re stylish and comfortable. My background was in architecture and Barry was an electrician.

So, we knew that we would be coming home to reinvent the wheel for ourselves.

So, starting out with a fresh, new business was what we knew we had to do.

We decided the we had nothing left to lose, so we just went for it”.

It’s another thing, entirely, to make it successful. How did you do that?

Well, we felt that quality was the key to what we were doing.

We felt that there was an opening for shoes and boots that were a little different. A little bit quirky.

So we offered this with a quality-made product.

We knew people were financially constrained at home or at work. So, instead of offering a cheap product, we offered a product that would cost more, but also one that would last a long time.

We are not going for the cheap, fast fashion. We’re going for the environmentally-friendly, or the tanned leather fashion.

There are over fifty bones in your feet and they need to be looked after. So, looking after your feet helps to look after you. So, we approach our business in that way.

That if we look after you, you’ll come back.

Retail is a tough industry. How do you survive on the high street?

Well, we sit down once a month with our team and our accountant.

We look and discuss what is happening inside the business and react accordingly.

Right now, our goal is to fit-out the shop, and we’re also focusing on our e-commerce solution for customers.

So, we need to represent our brand and that brand needs to be represented across all channels. So, we look at these and see if we’re doing that.

If we’re not, we ask how do we react to change that.

If we are, how can we build upon that?

So, really, it’s about reconnecting with your strategy once a month and seeing where you are.

You need to know where you stand on a constant basis.

Why did you decide on an e-commerce solution?

We’ve seen a large rise in the amount of shoes being sold online.

Footwear is actually one of the largest products sold online every year.

So, that market is out there and we need our brand to be connected with that. For any retailer, having an online presence is so important.

It’s where we are and it is only going to grow in size over time, as the demand grows and grows in the next few years...

So we plan to have a fully optimised, fully mobile e-commerce solution, where we are with our customers wherever they are.

Our shop will be just a click away”.

www.walkshoes.ie.