Behind the Scenes at the Shoe Show: Then and Now
From 5th Ave to the Cobb Galleria: A Life at the Shoe Show
The first shoe shows I attended were in New York City in the mid-1980s, and they felt impossibly glamorous. They had showrooms tucked into old buildings on 57th Street or Fifth Avenue. Some rented hotel rooms at The Plaza Hotel, transforming suites into miniature boutiques for a few precious days. You’d step off the elevator into a space that smelled like leather and perfume, shoes lined up carefully on beds and dressers, samples perched on window ledges with Central Park stretching out beyond them.
Those early trips shaped how I understand this business, not as a transaction, but as a relationship between people who care deeply about what they make and what they sell. And my father Joe made sure to teach me how to carry myself in business. At the age of ten, he would have me walk into the room first, introduce myself and offer a firm handshake to the rep. Those kinds of impressions last, and I still work with a few of those "old shoe dogs" today.
Today, the shoe show looks very different. The center of gravity has shifted south to the Atlanta Shoe Market, held twice a year, in February and August, at the Cobb Galleria Centre. That’s where Lauren and I go now, faithfully, year after year.
Instead of hallways and hotel suites where we would meet with a few vendors, the Cobb Galleria hums with hundreds of vendors from all over the world filling massive showrooms. Italian leather houses. Spanish factories. German comfort brands. Small family-run operations and large global manufacturers, all under one roof. The pace is faster, the scale is bigger, and the stakes, both financially and logistically, are higher than ever.
But the heart of the work? That hasn’t changed.
No Two Vendors, No Two Systems
One thing customers often don’t realize is how different every vendor relationship is. There is no universal way to buy shoes.
Some vendors allow us to “write our own sizes.” That means we can hand-select exactly how many pairs we want in each size; deep in the sizes our customers actually wear, lighter where we know demand drops off. This kind of flexibility means that sometimes we can bring in just a few pairs as a trial to see how you respond; reordering as needed. Or it allows us to buy additional size where we know they will be needed.
Other brands sell in case packs (pre-set assortments) that might include one pair of each size, whether those sizes make sense for our clientele or not. Case packs can be efficient for manufacturers, but means we could sell out of common sizes sell faster
Then there are the vendors who still do things the old-school way, the way I fell in love with. For a select few, we can choose from swatches of leather or suede, tweak colors, and create shoes that are made exclusively for us. They’re designed with our customer in mind--her lifestyle, her foot needs, her aesthetic. That level of collaboration is rare now. And when these styles sell out, we'll never see them again.
And finally, there’s open stock. These styles can be reordered throughout the season as needed. About 30-40% of our inventory can be reordered from a handful of our vendors like NAOT, Ara, Eric Michael and Rieker. If a shoe takes off in September, we don’t have to cross our fingers and hope we guessed right back in February. We can react and stay in stock for the woman who comes in late October looking for the perfect boot.
Each system requires a different way of thinking. At the end of the day, buying shoes isn’t just about taste. Responsible buying requires logistics, forecasting, and experience (or gut instinct) layered together.
Todd Wolff now leads Wolff Shoe Company (Vaneli), a fourth-generation, family-owned business his grandfather helped build. My father Joe worked closely with Todd's father, Gary Wolff, starting in the 1980s.
Shoes Are Designed Long Before You See Them
Here’s another behind-the-scenes truth: by the time you try on a shoe in our store, the decisions behind it were made a long, long time ago.
Most shoes are designed 12 to 18 months before they ever reach the sales floor. Leathers are sourced. Soles are developed. Lasts (the foot molds shoes are built on) are refined. Samples are made, revised, and approved. Production slots are booked in factories that are often shared by multiple brands.
When Lauren and I are at the Shoe Market in February, we’re often buying for fall. In August, we’re buying for spring of the following year. We’re making educated guesses about color trends, travel habits, lifestyle shifts, even the weather long before those things play out in real life.
That’s why experience matters so much in this industry. You learn to read subtle signals. A leather supplier pulling back on certain finishes. A factory shifting production timelines. A vendor quietly discontinuing a last that’s been reliable for years. None of this shows up on a trend report, but it shapes what ends up on your feet.
Several years ago, I attended NAOT’s product development meeting. Designers in Israel collaborate with Ayelet Lax-Levy, continuing her family’s multi-generational legacy of comfort-driven design.
Relationships Are the Real Currency
Despite the scale and speed of today’s shows, the most important part remains the relationships. We don’t just buy shoes, we work with people. Some reps we’ve known for decades. Many of our brands are made by families who’ve been making footwear for generations. These partners understand our store and our customers as well as we do.
Occassionally we get to introduce you to these reps when they come to the store for Trunk Shows or to give us a sneak peak at their line before the Atlanta show.
Diana, the rep for ARA on the left, is having her first baby any minute!
Lauren and I walk miles each day at market, moving from booth to booth, switching mental gears constantly. Some brands are easy and quick to buy--especially when our insticts match our projected needs. Other vendors required more time and a deep dive into the sales history so that we can order rationally and not just passionately about the products.
When we place an order, we’re not just choosing styles. We’re committing to months of collaboration, production, shipping, and follow-through. And when the shoes arrive on time, fit beautifully, and find the right homes, it’s still deeply satisfying.
From Then to Now
I sometimes think back to those early days in New York--to the quiet elegance of those hotel rooms, to the sense that this was a small world where everyone knew each other. The industry is bigger now. More complex. Less glamorous on the surface.
But the care, the craftsmanship, the human connection are still on display, twice a year, when we head to Atlanta. The setting has changed, but the heart of the business hasn’t.
We go to the Shoe Show so that when you walk into our store months later, the choices feel effortless and thoughtful.
And behind every pair, there’s a long story—one we’re still proud to be part of. We know the story doesn't end when you buy the shoes. We'd love to hear your history with Plum Bottom--whether you've been shopping with us since 1977 or just picked up your first pair online! Tag us @theplumbottom and post a picture of you wearing your favorite pair, or send us an email and picture and we'll add you to the long history of our business which we continue to nurture and grow!