Charleston Shoe Company founder Neely Woodson Powell has been a Charleston native since the mid-90’s (she now calls Isle of Palms home).
“I’ve watched Charleston change over the last 27 years,” she says.
It’s a place that is near and dear to her heart and business–ever since she began selling shoes out of her car trunk.
“I was born to be an entrepreneur. Both of my parents were entrepreneurs, my dad had hotels and restaurants and my mom had a furniture business,” she shares. “I would go to furniture markets with my mom for her retail stores.”
She explains that she noticed the people attending the markets were standing on their feet all day, walking 30,000-40,000 steps a day–but had uncomfortable shoes on, like stilettos. After meeting a fifth generation cobbler during a trip to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, who had created a more walkable shoe meant to endure the cobblestone streets of San Miguel, she was inspired to start selling them to women attending the furniture markets–and they went viral.
“Our tagline is ‘Cobblestones to Cocktails’, since they are made to wear on cobblestone streets walking around all day, and then you can wear them out to dinner,” says Powell.
Powell gained loyal customers who would then buy her versatile shoes wholesale and sell them within their design firms.
“They were great advocates,” says Powell.
After 12 years of continuing to sell shoes wholesale, Powell decided to enroll in the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) to take shoe design classes in 2009. In 2010, she opened her first Charleston Shoe Company retail store in Savannah–opening two more stores in Charleston within the next 6 months.
“It was kind of wild. We would open the door everyday to pay for the electricity by selling a pair of shoes,” says Powell.
Things started taking off. She began hosting trunk shows, which helped the business grow. (Today, Charleston Shoe Company does over 100 trunk shows a year, with three Sprinter vans utilized to travel around the country.)
“In the last 14 years, we’ve opened 32 stores around the country,” says Powell. Charleston Shoe Company is sold in over 800 retailers nationwide, and also through Home Shows (which Powell notes is like “Tupperware for shoes.”) The brand is also set to open an international store in Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands in November 2024.
Today, each pair of Charleston Shoe Company shoes are still handmade in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, by 72 cobblers. Powell describes her shoes as “our shoes are whimsical, cute, sustainable, classic and timeless”, with a number of styles also being machine washable.
“Some of my styles I’ve had in my line for over 20 years,” she says. “I’m not really on the cutting edge of fashion. I'm really about creating a shoe that you can wear forever and it’s your go-to, and it’s never going to go out of style that’s always going to look good and feel good.”
Powell adds that her shoes are a favorite of walking tour guides in Charleston, like Two Sisters Tours.
“All they wear are our shoes! They are so cute,” says Powell. “They’re walking all over the city in our wedges instead of tennis shoes. It’s kind of a testament to the shoe.”
Giving back has become a cornerstone of the Charleston Shoe Company. Powell has donated over 7,000 pairs of shoes to women in developing countries, in partnership with the non-profit organization SOLES4SOULS. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, Powell began the Healthcare Heroes Campaign in partnership with The Medical University of South Carolina–an effort to provide shoes to healthcare workers who served on the front lines. The campaign expanded nationally, and has since donated over $2.5 million worth of shoes.
“It’s been so rewarding,” says Powell.
