After more than 60 years of selling shoes in Tucson, Sidney Hirsh is calling it quits.
In April, when Hirsh’s Shoes celebrates its 62nd anniversary, Hirsh wants to close the doors for good.
“I’m 85 years old,” Hirsh said. “I can’t fight the clock. I don’t want to do this when I’m 90.”
Hirsh’s mother Rose opened the business at 2934 E. Broadway in April 1954 as a children’s shoe store. Fresh from the Army with a wife and child to support, Sidney Hirsh joined the store that November.
He has worked there ever since.
“Our customers are going to miss us. We have already heard that,” he said. “I don’t know if people are going to go to Phoenix or where, and I don’t know who to recommend.”
The store specializes in dancewear and custom footwear for sensitive or hard-to-fit feet. For now, the store will continue to take custom orders but will stop as April nears and stock disappears.
To clear the store, Hirsh is running small discounts. For example, some dance inventory is now 20 percent off. The bigger sales will come later.
At one time, five Hirsh’s Shoes dotted the city, but by 1996, only the original Broadway location remained open. Refocusing on sore feet and dancing shoes turned Hirsh’s into a niche business and kept it alive.
“It’s sad to see it go,” said Craig Finfrock, partner with CRI Broadway Village Partners, which owns the property east of Hirsh’s. “He’s a bit of an institution in Tucson.”
Mike Varney, president and CEO of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce said, “We cherish every business that is employing people and selling wonderful products. We hate to see any business close for any reason. We certainly salute the family for their great contribution to Tucson.”
Hirsh’s Shoes has seven employees, including Hirsh. Only one is part-time, he said.
He considered selling the business, but because neither of his two living children could take over, he decided closing would be easier.
“At this point in my life, if we’re going to go, we just want to go out,” Hirsh said.
For now, the family still owns the building.
“It’s been 60 good years, except for a few ups and downs,” Hirsh said. “I have no regrets having spent my life in here. It’s been good, and I run across customers all over the place.”
