We provide several different brands of quality shoes:
Altra
Aetrex
Apex
Birkenstock
Froddo
Irish Setter (division of Red Wing)
Kepner Scott
LEMS
Primigi
PW Minor
Red Wing
Salt-Water Sandal (Hoy)
Think!
Thorogood (Weinbrenner)
Vasque (division of Red Wing)
Vinko Pujic, his wife Olga and their two young daughters, Melita (2 years) and Anita (5 months), arrived in America from a displaced persons camp in 1952. They had already lived at the camp for 7 years... but you'll have to personally visit Olga at the store for the history of their lives before camp, where they met, life at the camp, etc. All the lingering questions that everyone has, and she loves to answer them! Back to the history of the store... The Pujics were only allowed to come to America because they were sponsored by St. Anthony's church in Sharon. Initially, Vinko got a job working at Sharon Steel, but after a short 2 months they decided to go on strike! As fast as it began, it ended and he was out of a job. Vinko was a master shoe craftsman in Austria so he decided to approach a shoe repair shop in Farrell for a job. When he arrived, the gentleman had explained to him that he was not interested in hiring anyone because he wanted to retire and was looking to sell the business. Vinko, unfortunately, did not have the money to buy the shoe repair store himself. Fortunately, a kind Croatian women who attended the same church, offered to co-sign on a loan for Vinko to be able to buy the business. Vince's Family Shoes has arrived, sort of. After a couple years of only being a repair shop, a sales representative from Weinbrenner (Thorogood) Shoe Company approached Vinko and asked him if he'd be interested in selling their work boots. Vinko informed the man that he did not have the money to do such a thing. The salesman told Vinko that he would leave several pair of boots at the shop and be back in a week to get them if Vinko did not sell them. To everyone's surprise, all the boots sold! We've been a shoe RETAIL store ever since! A few years after being in Farrell, the business was moved to West Middlesex off RT 18. Only being at this location another few years, we moved to where we are today- 3158 Main St. The original name of the store was The West Middlesex Shoe Store but changed to Vince's Family Shoes in the early 1970's. Vinko passed down all his special shoe crafting skills and techniques to his daughter, Anita, who still runs the store today after more than 25 years. Vinko sadly passed away from Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) in 1992. Olga still opens the store every morning and greets every customer with a smile. If you'd like to see her and hear the story from the person who truly lived it, come in and visit her at the store!
