Jeff and Kim Cusumano, new owners of R&C Adventure Footwear, on Bearco Loop in La Grande, discuss one of the store's top performing shoes on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023.

LA GRANDE — If shoes could talk, what would they say about you? Would they say you’re a nurse, a logger, a jogger, a hunter, a soccer player, a rancher, a waitress, an active senior, a chef, an orthopedic patient — or, perhaps, a physical therapist like Jeff Cusumano, the new owner of R&C Adventure Footwear, 2700 Bearco Loop, La Grande.

He and his wife, Kim Cusumano, residents of Union, purchased the 36-year-old footwear business from Elijah Simonis in July. Cusumano operates the business and has hired two part-time employees to help him. For Cusumano, operating a retail shoe store seemed like the perfect fit.

“In my field as a physical therapist, I always liked helping people find solutions to their foot pain,” he said. “I’ve frequently referred my patients to this store for years to buy shoes like Altra, which is a podiatrist-recommended shoe.”

So when Simonis told him that he was thinking about selling in about two years, Cusumano showed an interest and told Simonis to call him when that time drew closer.

“I like shoes, and I like the shoe store,” he said. “I thought it would be a lot of fun, so we talked about a year ago, and here we are. We officially took the business over on July 10, and we closed on July 31.”

Cusumano said they did reorganize and repaint the building, but any remodeling would have to be a gradual undertaking.

“We’ll have to roll that out over the next year or so, but the first order of business is to bring in more shoe inventory,” he said.

Cusumano has already added a lot of new brands, such as Jambu and JBU. He’s also interested in Orthofeet shoes, which are designed for healthy feet and for those with medical concerns.

“We’re developing an inventory of footwear for the whole community, not just for hiking and firefighting, which is the heart and soul of the store, but also really building up the women’s shoe line,” he said. “I want to have a women’s shoe line that nobody else has in town.”

Cusumano said he’s also excited to supply the community with shoes that address their foot problems, like plantar fasciitis, hammer toes and all types of medical concerns.

“I’d like to be a one-stop shop, not just for products, but for the fitting of shoes,” he said. “If you don’t get the right fitting, it’s just not going to work, and this differentiates us from an online shoe source.”

“Poor fit remains the top reason for returns,” according to the tech company Narvar. For the sixth year in a row, “fit and size” was survey respondents’ top reason for returns (45%), among both first-time shoppers (22%) and loyalists (78%).”

Cusumano believes that getting properly fitted for shoes, trying them on and giving them that scrutinizing test walk before purchase saves everyone time, money and the hassles of return shipping.

“So that’s why offering the service of fitting is a big part of what we do,” he said. “With my 27 years as a physical therapist, I’m not going to tell anybody what shoe they can or can’t wear, but I want to do some custom fitting and orthotics with 3-D computer-aided software.”

Cusumano will be attending a trade show in Portland in September to look at some of the custom mapping technologies available. He will be building his orthotic line and improving knowledge, awareness and education in foot health.

“For example, people don’t generally know that they need to be rotating their shoes,” he said. “You should not be wearing the same pair of shoes every day. We will be directing people to the kind of footwear for whatever foot condition they have.”

Cusumano’s business goals include offering the best shoes in La Grande and growing into the best footwear store in Northeast Oregon.

“We want to be No. 1 in Northeast Oregon,” he said.

To meet these standards, he’s bringing in some well-known brands — such as Keen, Georgia, Hoffman, Wolverine, Sorel, Jamber, Ariat, Adida, Zamberlan, Danner, Vasque, Kenetrek, White’s, BearPaw and Filsons — spanning the gamut from casual wear to specialty logging boots plus hands-free shoes, soccer shoes and accessories like shin guards, and socks.

“I’d like to invite everyone to stop in, meet us, and check out our expanded inventory,” Cusumano said. “We’re looking forward to helping you find the right shoes with the right fit.”