Tue Sep 24 04:27 PM  by Ted Thomason

I worked for Butler Shoe Corporation in Phoenix, AZ from 1977 to 1987. It was originally Ansonia Shoes then switched to Butlers. I then went to work for Hot Feet and then a Malings in California. My District Manager was Armando Angulo. He was a great guy.

 Tue Aug 20 07:27 PM  by Ray Glass

Started in 1973 with Butlers while in HIGH school in Valdosta Ga. I remember Jim Talent as DM I think. Then moved to Macon Ga worked under Tim Isaacs then Lynn Kilpatrick.Frank Hicks was DM and Ray Boroughs Regional. Later took a store in Johnson City TN DM was Harvey Clark. Later he moved me to Ashville NC then to Anderson SC. Changed DM to Kim Pittman. Few years later Juan Watts and Boroughs calls me at home to go to Hollywood FL. Tom Stone was DM. Eventually transferred back to Macon where Butler began to change. Evander Pender had become an auditor. Tim Watts my DM. Moved to Carolina again as DM. Met many great people--Dan Gourley Mark Thomas JR Freeman Aubrey Shatzman Don Lastinger Paul Barbarisi Ken Forman and many many others. Butler's was a great company and knew how to give excellent customer service. Great training.

 Wed Aug 7 04:06 PM  by Mark Thomas

My first job was with Butlers starting in 1972 at 15 years old in Greenville SC. 1st mgr was Bill Payne, then one of the finest in the business, Warren "Red" Christian. He passed away just a few months ago. Continued in the business with Rack Room Shoes. A 30 plus year career in shoes. Dan Gourley, old buddy, I see your name on this site. Some other great friends I remember are, Harvey Clark, JR Freeman, Evander Pender, Ray Burroughs, Juan Watts, Charlie Hudson, joe Shapiro, many others. Great times and memories. Should have a Butlers reunion one day. I can be reached at mathomas504@cs.com

 Thu Jun 20 11:14 PM  by irvin levine

i started to wk for butlers as a saturday extra/marty mittleman was mgr charlie hudson dist mgr i helped open store in later years charlestonsc-gastonia nc-jacksonville fla worked many seasons in miami beach-hollywood-ft laudrdale atlanta-ga clarence furer-perry smolen buddy chatham-max beach russ certo richard knuckles walter randolph-these men were some of the best shoe men i ever worked for.winsto salem nc charlote nc you cannot replace these men they new how to sell shoes evena 7/1/2 i hope all is well with x butlers employees grear memories

 Fri Apr 26 02:46 AM  by The Coeus

Nice click. Perfect view of the store.

 Mon Mar 25 05:46 PM  by Mike Weiford

Started with Butler Shoes in 1984 at Merritt Square Mall in Merritt Island, FL. Transferred to Hollywood Fashion Center in 1986, Broward Mall 1989, Pembroke Lakes Mall 1992, and finally Boynton Beach in '96. Met some truly wonderful people along the way: Ray Burroughs, Jim Talent, Aubrey Shautzman, Tommy Stone, Dan Gourley, and Rick Anderson. Some of the greatest times of my life were spent at Butlers. The comical changes when they tried to divide the company into 4 separate divisions in the late 80's (Dolcis, Tip Toe, Ansonia, etc.) have never dampened my love for this once great shoe giant! Hey guys! Keep that "findings" % up! I also wanted to say that Mr. David Bissland was one of the greatest shoe salespersons I ever saw!

 Sun Jan 27 03:26 PM  by TOWARDS THE LAST DAYS OF BUTLERS

[Thanks to Steve Rowland for this. I recall fondly the happier days, pretty much all my early life till I was 24.] February 1988 articles Footwear News Sears PLC chief hedges on possible Butler sale. (Butler Shoe Corp.) Footwear News | February 22, 1988 | Fallon, James; Tahmincioglu, Eve | Copyright Sears PLC chief hedges on possible Butler sale Responding to a report that Sears PLC plans to sell its Atlanta-based Butler Shoe Corp. and that store closures are imminent, Geoffrey Maitland Smith, chairman of Sears PLC, said, "There are plans afoot to do certain things, which we are investigating. "Closures are one of the possibilities open to us. We also have toyed with the idea of a management buyout. What I'm saying is that there are all sorts of things that could be in play." "There is no third party involved," he added, in reference to a report that New York-based investment bank Shearson Lehman Hutton has been involved in the effort. "Something happens there from time to time. I always say I'm a good listener." Lynn Kelly, president of Butler, confirmed that closures were definite, but in regard to the sale of Butler, he said, "That's news to me. I'd be alarmed to find that out. There are a tremendous amount of rumors. "As far as closing stores (goes), there is no question of negotiations (to close) unprofitable (locations). Some of the stores are very unprofitable, and others are profitable. I don't know of a retailer that isn't looking to close unprofitable stores. Normally, we close 20 stores because of leases coming up. "We have targeted 30 unprofitable stores to close over a 24-month period and replace those with at least that many in shopping centers where we don't have a good penetration." When asked about reports from a source close to Butler that the company had suffered a 1987 loss of $20 million, Kelly said, "That's not accurate," though he added that the company went through a restructuring and that it "had a difficult year." As for '87 sales, Kelly said, "There was a downturn in total sales in the fourth quarter, but the end-of-the-year figures were marginally ahead of last year." He added that business in January and February was "slightly ahead." p.s. Someone want to start a "Bultlers Veteran Site"? Allen Greenfield

 Thu Jan 10 12:44 AM  by Tim Isaac

What a pleasure it is, reading everyone's posts, and seeing that some of you worked for the same men I did, and had similar fond memories. I think the idea of a Butler's and etc. vetran's site is great.

 Thu Dec 13 12:52 AM  by Mark

After working with them for about 3 years they had a big change new president, they changed all the Mailing shoe names to Tip Toe, I left there in 89 I think about a year after that they started closing the stores

 Sat Dec 1 10:19 AM  by Steve Rowland

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-6369427/sears-plc-chief-hedges.html

 Sat Dec 1 09:37 AM  by Steve Rowland

I had an urge to Google: 'Butler Shoe Corporation', a moment ago, and this link came up on top. I worked in the Atlanta, GA, Butler corporate offices, starting at the Brookwood office, beginning as a designer/draftsman in 1976 and ended as the Manager of Store Planning and Construction in 1986, at the Terrell Mill office. I had some class bosses in Mickey Bjork, who I am still in contact with, and who is truly a class guy, and Howard Morgan, Bruce Feuer, and others, as well as Joe Shapiro. We designed, built, and remodeled the stores in conjunction with the Dallas, TX office of Zales. Upwards of 1500 stores were built or remodeled in that span of time. I left to go into my own Design/Construction business. Very pleasant memories or those people and times.

 Thu Nov 29 11:05 PM  by bill drummond

worked for butlers shoes from 1960 till 1978 managed stores in savannah ga, bradenton fl, bham al , opelika al, and was auditor for about two years west coast , my first dm was joe shapiro, later worked for frank hicks ,toby storey. ray bourrougs ,t.tyler and a host of shoe dogs,,, now live in dallas,tx

 Fri Jun 8 12:54 PM  by richard jump

i worked at butlers in 1973 at lauderhill mall in ft lauderdale fl. i remember everyone made it fun, one of my coworkers charles carter was great. his brother played football for the denver broncos, rubin carter. i was 17 years old and made pretty good money. i got married and bought the ring at zales in 74 awesome memories there.

 Thu Jan 19 06:39 PM  by Tim Isaac

I just wanted add that I remembered the name of my last DM ... Frank Hicks. He was one hell of a nice guy, a gentleman, and an inspiration.

 Wed Jan 11 12:23 AM  by Don Thompson

I worked with many wonderful people for almost 25 years. I have a lot of great memories. I started in Daytona Beach in the 70's and ended up in CA before the company changed it name Butler Group. They changed all the stores to either Sam & Libby or Jones New York. During the second liquidation I left the company. They sold the remaining stores to Bakers/Leeds around 2000

 Sun Nov 6 08:55 PM  by Sharon

I just found this newpaper article on the internet from 1936. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19361120&id=A_0sAAAAIBAJ&sjid=m7YFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1029,1672660

 Sat Nov 5 11:45 AM  by Leah Shapiro Klein

My father, Israel David Shapiro was president of Butler Shoe Corp. and then he was the Chairman of the Board when my brother, Joe Shapiro took over as President. Butler's was the second largest Women and Children shoe chain in the country that did not manufacture their own shoes. They ended up with over 847 stores when my brother resigned to persue other interests.

 Mon Jul 25 12:36 AM  by Don McGinnis

I was Southeastern Regional District Mgr. for Butlers Shoes Discount Division. It was in the 60s and 70s.that Butlers began leasing the shoe depts. of the big discount stores that were opening. It was a new era of shopping and Butlers was in on the ground floor. K-Mart was one of Butlers large accts. I enjoyed working for Butlers and my managers were the best. Hope some of you guys read this, it would be great to hear from you. Don

 Tue Apr 27 02:28 PM  by shahqueen

Butlers was one store that was very affordable and you could always find shoes that were different (style) from all the rest and pay less.Thanks Butlers for all that you've done.Now is there any store any where today?

 Wed Mar 17 03:46 PM  by Susan B

How many weekends before Easter did my mother drag my sister and me to Butler's Shoes for Easter shoes? We'd start at Belks on the lower end of Main Street, walk all the way up to the Fox or Carolina Theater, have lunch at either Tanner's Big Orange or Pete's, and all the way back down and when we were through, we each had new shoes, socks, dresses, purses, gloves and hats. I'm 55 and my sister is 57. Those were gentler, happier times. We just didn't know it. . .