MEXICO – When John and Marie Thomas opened their shoe store in 1986, virtually every boot and shoe in stock was made in the United States, many right in Maine.

Now, 17 years later, the couple is getting ready to close. And a U.S.-made shoe is rare, a Maine-made shoe practically non-existent.

But that’s not why they are closing. Business is good at this only remaining independently-owned store devoted exclusively to footwear in the region.

The couple has decided it’s time to take life a bit easier. John always said he’d retire when he reached aged 70. That birthday comes next year.

The rich smell of leather wafts through each solidly packed room in the store on Main Street, right at the intersection with Route 17. Anyone who had ever worked in a shoe shop would recognize the aroma.

Rows upon rows of boxed, heavy boots, shoes, sneakers and cowboy boots line the walls or are piled on tables. A separate room is devoted to safety boots, one of the more popular products the Thomases have sold over the years. A chair is placed here and there for people to try on just the right kind of shoe or boot.

Laces and shoehorns hang from a beam in the center of the main room. This business is clearly not a large retailer or discount mega-store, although the Thomases offered discounted prices on their stock.

The couple started liquidating the stock in October, and will continue through the end of the year. If a substantial amount remains, they will continue to open a couple of days a week during January. Whatever is left will be sold to a jobber.

The years have been fun, said Marie.

“We’ve enjoyed it, meeting and dealing with people,” she said.

John agrees.

“We’ve met some nice people and some stinkers. But they probably say that about me, too,” he said with a laugh.

“It’s been a good business, a going business. We don’t owe anyone a cent,” he said.

Efforts to sell the store to someone who wanted to run a shoe business have been unsuccessful. Once the is liquidated the two-story building will be sold. No one has committed to buying the building, but John said his real estate agent has received a cou-

ple of nibbles.

Competing with the big retailers has become harder and harder, said John. Many suppliers refuse to sell stock to small stores and large stores frequently get preferential treatment, he said.

The beginning

The Thomases never really expected to own a shoe store. It just kind of happened.

John, a retired Air Force veteran who had served 10 years on active duty and 10 years in the National Guard, had accumulated comp time working for the state. He’d often use it to do “a little flea marketing.” He got some deals on quality shoes. When he was laid off from his state job the couple decided to go into the shoe business using contacts they made during their flea marketing days. He withdrew his state retirement and sank it into the business.

The couple opened in a tiny storefront on Prospect Avenue in Rumford. Within a year, they moved into the much larger site in Mexico. John, a Mexico native, remembers when the store sold clothing. He even bought a few pieces of clothing when he was a Mexico High School student. The site had also been home to other businesses, including a bakery, which is what it was when the Thomases bought it.

“We went full-time,” he said.

Full-time meant six days a week, 9-5 p.m. each day, leaving very little time for anything else. That’s why it’s not too hard to finally close the business. The couple has had only two weeks off together in 17 years.

They plan to spend more time at their camp on Dummers Beach in Weld, and perhaps do more skiing, kayaking or camping.

“I have lived with this day and night for years. I won’t miss the business that much, but I will miss some of the people,” he said.

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