Rogan's Shoes finds Milwaukee market a good fit

News reports of the economic downturn are practically inevitable these days and many businesses are looking for ways to downsize or at least postponing plans for growth.

Pat Rogan has a different idea.

"It's a good time to be in the growth business," said Rogan, the president of Rogan's Shoes, a Racine-based chain that opened its first Milwaukee-area store this summer in Greenfield and will open another outlet next year at 19770 W. Bluemound Rd. in Brookfield.

"Our business has never been better. When times get tough, the fact is that customers go where they are getting better value and friendly service."

Founded in 1971, Rogan's shoes operates 31 stores throughout Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa. Though the company has had success in Racine, Madison and West Bend, the Greenfield store, located at 4350 S. 76th St., marked its first foray into a "large" market like Milwaukee. The chain, which has advertised its Racine and other locations in Milwaukee for years, already had a bit of name recognition in the market.

"When we opened our store in Davenport, Iowa, we were pioneering there," Rogan said. "Nobody really knew who we were, so we didn't reap the benefits we would (in Wisconsin).

"Nothing is ever a given in business, but we thought Milwaukee would be a good market for us. Most people have probably have driven by our stores everywhere in the state except Milwaukee.

"We've had eight of our semis driving through town for the past 20 years. We've probably cut half the people off in traffic."

Rogan said the store near Southridge, housed right near the freeway on-ramp, has been successful, but Rogan expects the Brookfield location, in the site of a former day care center, to eclipse it.

"This is going to be a bigger volume store. It will be a statement store for us," he said. "The walls are going up now. We're right on track for our timing with it."

Before the Brookfield store opens, Rogan may be developing a handful of other sites.

"I looked at two more locations yesterday," he said last week. "The fact is, this is a great time to be a buyer. It's a good time to be looking for properties. One site had a building that has been sitting empty for two years. There is a lot available right now."

Rogan's stores, which average about 12,000 sq. ft., stock a variety of popular brands like Nike, Adidas, Reebok, New Balance, Crocs, Clarks, North Face, Birkenstock, Timberland, Stacy Adams, Naturalizer, Nine West, Dr. Martens, Merrell and others. The selection is vast, which shoes stacked high and roughly 35,000 pairs in stock.

"Our feeling is that if you walk into one of our stores and can't find what you're looking for, it wasn't meant to be found," Rogan said.

"There is a lot of product in our stores. Our pricing might not be the lowest, but it is a good value and our selection is awesome. The great thing about our setup is that with multiple stores, if we don't have what you are looking for, we can call our other locations and have the shoes shipped right to your house."

Rogan said the nature of the company is another advantage.

"We are privately held and it's a family operation," he said. "Family operations are fun. There are 11 kinds in our family. Don't think for a second that we haven't had some knock-down, drag-out fights over the years, but it's a lot of fun.

"My dad set a tone years ago. Most of the kids are still involved with the business in some way. Some come and go. They get fired and then we bring ‘em back.

"With a family-owned operation, most of our employees know us all by name and I know most of them by name. That's a good setup.

"We're selling shoes here. It's not rocket science."