Brand Name Shoes opening in August at former Beatties store location

A longstanding business with multiple locations in the region is lacing up to open a new spot at the former Beatties store.

Brand Name Shoes will be opening the first week of August, adding to its inventory of stores in Niagara Falls, Port Colborne, Welland, St. Catharines, Beamsville, as well as Dunnville.

The store offers several brands such as Skechers, Adidas, Birkenstock, Vans, New Balance, Clarks, Reebok, Keds, and dozens more.

Owner Michael Klemm said he’s been interested in Fort Erie and that specific location since learning about Beatties closing its doors after 27 years at 458 Garrison Road.

“I’ve been eyeing it for a while,” Klemm told Fort Erie Radio in an interview, adding he was the owner of the Niagara Shoe Factory outlet store, the former Pizza Hut that sits next to McDonald’s.

It closed in 2008, but he’s looking forward to another run in town.

“We believe in Fort Erie, and it’s grown substantially,” he said.

Klemm said “value for dollar” is a motto his stores operate on, and that often he is able to offer lower prices than what some of the brands he carries charge online or in stores at Niagara’s two outlet malls.

Online sales are monitored by corporations and there is no room to put lower price tags on products, he said, adding that shoes are a purchase that many customers like to make in person. It gives the shopper a chance to try them on to make sure they feel and look good on their feet.

Klemm also claims “COVID showed people how hard it is to buy shoes online,” and that returning a pair over the internet usually involves a fee.

“Competition is competition,” he said when asked about the impact of the outlet malls in Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Brand Name Shoes has been in the region for more than 30 years.

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