Business Conversations: Combining Fashion, Comfort and Creativity at Mad About Shoe

Mad About Shoe is as much about comfortable shoes as it is creativity. There are shoes, accessories, handbags and jewelry for sale, and artwork from Winchester artists on the walls of the little shop on Thompson Street.

The shop was purchased by Linda Sharpe, who wanted to have a creative outlet and believed in “the vibrancy of Winchester” in 2009. Nancy Leotsakos, an interior redisgner and mother of twins wanted a job that focused on freedom, fashion and creativity. She took a few moments to talk about Mad About Shoe with Winchester Patch.

WP: How would you describe this shop if nobody had any idea what it was?

NL: I would have to say it’s a women’s shoes and accessories shop. We take pride in selling fashion/comfort when it comes to shoes. That’s one of the main features here. So you get stylish shoes that are also comfortable and that is mostly what people want. We’ve made the mistake of trying to sell one or the other when it comes to comfort versus fashion and that didn’t work out that well. What we don’t want to do is have fad shoes come in and out of here.

We like to have things that you wont find anywhere else. And we work with the customer, we ask ‘what do you want to see for sale here, what don’t you want to see here.’ And people come back when you ask for their perspective. People see the change and like it. This used to be a high end store with shoes at like $300. And now we have a wide array because we want everyone to feel comfortable walking into the store.

WP: You guys must have a strong relationship with people in town.

NL: Well, we try to open the door to local artists and craftsmen because this store was started as a creative outlet. So we have paintings from local artists, including handmade jewelry made by Karen Martin. She’s a math teacher in town. (See the photo gallery.)