Edmonds shoe store specializes in wide feet

EDMONDS – Wide Shoes Only owner Dominic Ahn said only 10% of the U.S. population has wide feet, but that’s enough to support his retail store in Edmonds.

It’s the only store of its kind in Snohomish County — and one of only a handful in the U.S., Ahn said.

He carries 600 styles of shoes and sneakers, all in wide sizes.

In 1997, Ahn’s parents, now retired, opened the store in Edmonds at 7621 Lake Ballinger Way after relocating the store from Shoreline.

The wide shoe store was an outgrowth of his parents’ original business — several shoe-repair stores located in Seattle and other locations in Western Washington.

He started working for his parents in 2001, eventually managing the shoe store. In 2012, Ahn took over the Edmonds store and opened a second location in Renton.

In a world of online shopping, Ahn said he has an advantage.

“People can go to a website and look at a shoe’s color and style and width, but they have no idea how they fit,” he said. “Every shoe and sneaker fits differently.”

Ahn said his customers want to try on the shoe before buying.

Buying shoes can be confusing, he said, because each manufacturer sizes their shoes differently.

“Some shoes run smaller, some shoes run longer, some shoes are more shallow,” Ahn said. “So shoes vary.”

He said people with wide feet often make a mistake because they buy longer shoes to accommodate their feet, unaware that they only need a wider size.

Ahn typically orders the shoes in his store from the manufacturer nine months in advance to make sure he can obtain their limited supply of new models in wide sizes.

“A company might make 100 pairs of size 11 medium sneakers but only a few pairs of a wide model,” he said.

Ahn, 56, didn’t follow in his parents’ footsteps right away. After college, he worked in the tech industry in California.

But he did have some shoe experience. While he attended the University of Washington, he also worked part-time in the shoe department at the now-defunct Nordstrom’s Department Store at the Northgate Mall in Seattle

At the Edmonds store, Ahn carries not only wide shoes, but also extra-extra-extra-extra wide to a very large width of 10E.

The store has sizes 7 to 18 for men and 5 to 13 for women.

His stock includes sneakers, sandals, slippers, dress shoes, even snow boots.

The shoes are the same style a customer could find in a mainstream store. Ahn said his brands include Red Wing, Hush Puppies, Brooks, SAS, Dansko and New Balance.

Both New Balance and Brooks athletic shoes are among his most popular sellers, he said.

Ahn said customers can’t typically find wide footwear in conventional shoe and sneaker stores because it’s not worth their while to take up limited display space with footwear that only sells occasionally.

Ahn said many of his customers are born with wide feet, but others have medical conditions, such as lymphedema, which causes feet to swell.

He said it might seem boring to run a shoe store, but he gets satisfaction helping customers, many of whom are wearing shoes that are too tight, to find a comfortable pair and relief from foot pain.

Randy Diamond: 425-339-3097; randy.diamond@heraldnet.com.