October 2009, New York, New York: Robert S. Schwartz, C.Ped. has been elected Vice Chairman of the National Shoe Retailers Association’s Board of Directors effective October 1, 2009. Schwartz is the President and CEO of Eneslow Pedorthic Enterprises Inc. (212-477-2300), which operates Eneslow, The Foot Comfort Center (three locations in New York City), Eneslow Pedorthic Institute (EPI), and www.eneslow.com. Schwartz will be working along side the new Chairman Alan Miklofsky, who is the owner and CEO of Alan’s Shoe House (phone 520-297-5269), a multiple-location company based in Tucson, Arizona.
A recognized leader in the footwear and footcare industries, Schwartz, who has served NSRA for the past several years as Chairman of its Education Committee (oversees conferences) and spearheaded development of an employee training DVD on selling says, “It is an honor and privilege to help owner operated independent shoe retailers compete and thrive in these difficult economic times. NSRA is the ultimate resource to accomplish this.”
Schwartz is also the Managing Director and on the board and executive committee of the 23rd Street Association, a New York City civic and trade organization. It includes the 23rd Street Community Projects a 501(c) 3 Foundation, with the theme of Waste Not, Want Not, which advocates on behalf of conservation and preservation.
Schwartz is currently an adjunct instructor in the department of orthopedic sciences at the New York College of Podiatric Medicine (nycpm.edu). He also participates on the faculty of Aetrex University and on the advisory board of foot.com and Pedorthic Newswire and has been a faculty member of the pedorthic programs at Northwestern University, New York University, UCLA, Ball State University, and Shoe Service Institute of America.
The Chairman and Vice Chairman positions are elective office, filled by majority vote of NSRA’s 27-member Board of Directors.
Eneslow, The Foot Comfort Center was founded in 1909 and is a family owned business providing high quality, stylish and comfortable shoes, as well as therapeutic accessories, on-site shoe makeovers and repairs and custom-made footwear. Eneslow has three retail locations in New York City: two in Manhattan (470 Park Avenue South @32nd Street and 1504 Second Avenue @ 79th Street) and one in Little Neck Queens (254-61 Horace Harding Expressway, @ LIE Exit #32).
Eneslow Pedorthic Institute, a fully accredited facility, teaches pedorthics to footwear and health care providers.
NSRA, founded in 1912, is the national membership organization representing independent shoe stores in the United States. “Independents” are owner-operated stores, as compared to national or regional chains or department stores that include shoe departments. NSRA provides its members with education programs cost-saving business services, informational resources and powerful networking opportunities.
Suze Yalof Schwartz strikes again at Beautiful stranger.tv!
Glamour Executive Fashion Editor at Large Suze Yalof Schwartz,describes some of her fashionable do's and don'ts on beautiful stranger.tv. Find out about some of her "Favorite Things" and how Eneslow the Foot Comfort Center is on top of her list. Also, be sure to watch how we became one of her favorites by following this link.
Eneslow Shoe Survey Gets Glamour Talking
A recent Eneslow Survey about the number of shoes Americans own that are too uncomfortable to wear got the attention of Glamour Executive Fashion Editor at Large Suze Yalof Schwartz, a self-proclaimed fashion junkie who regularly appears on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, The View, The Early Show, Live with Regis & Kelly, E!, Access Hollywood, Lifetime, CNN, CNBC, and FOX News Channel.
Yalof Schwartz said on her Slaves to Fashion blog, “I consider myself a footwear ‘collector’ but probably only wear 20-30% of all my purchases. Why? Because, honestly, I walk like an elephant : I wear off my heel caps after just a few days of pounding the pavement, so there are always a few pairs in a bag, waiting to be dropped off at the cobbler's. Meanwhile, the stunning, sky-high styles that I couldn't resist leaving in the store, just kill my feet so I don't even attempt to put them on, knowing I'll regret it in the morning. So why do I hold on to them? For me, it's a matter of feeling badly and thinking that someday, I'll want to wear that one favorite pair.”
“A lot of women feel that way about their shoes,” said Robert S. Schwartz, C.Ped. (no relation to Suze), the president and CEO of Eneslow, The Foot Comfort Center. “Our survey suggests that more than 25% of the shoes Americans own are too uncomfortable to wear. “At Eneslow we see the damage ill-fitting shoes can do to feet. There are a host of chronic conditions like corns, hammertoes, and calluses, bunions, swelling and neuromas. It’s not pretty and it’s painful.
“Fashionistas like Suze don’t have to suffer and they can still wear the stunning heels they have stashed in their closets. There are ways to modify shoes with arch supports, heel and metatarsal pads, and half- or full-innersoles, all of which are relatively inexpensive – anywhere from $10-$75 – and a worthwhile investment.
“Treasured shoes can be retrofitted. At Eneslow, the process starts when one of our staff pedorthists takes measurements of your feet. Your shoes are then examined by our team of master shoe technicians who dissect and surgically retrofit them according to the contours of your feet and toes. They are then put back together. There are no scars and absolutely no modification to the exterior of the shoe. The interior will have the original innersole. The cost is typically $100 per shoe, but well worth the money if they’re high-end designer shoes. “Let Eneslow get you walking in your favorite pair of most uncomfortable shoes. I welcome you to bring them to any of our three Eneslow locations for a free evaluation.”
Manhattan Pedorthist Gave up Show Biz for Shoe Biz
Sarah Goldberg, CPed, embraces her calling by helping others to maintain proper foot health.
Sarah Goldberg, CPed, went to New York to be a costume designer for Broadway shows. She ended up in feet, not footlights. “A lot of my friends from school cannot believe I am a pedorthist,” Goldberg, educational coordinator for Eneslow Pedorthic Institute (EPI), said. “They think it’s weird. But, I enjoy my job.” EPI is part of Eneslow, the Foot Comfort Center, a retail shoe store and full-service pedorthics facility. The main store and lab are in Manhattan. Eneslow also has a branch in Little Neck, N.Y. EPI is part of the Manhattan store. The institute offers pre-certification training for pedorthists. “Our courses are in keeping with ABC and BOC requirements,” Goldberg said. “People come to EPI from all over the country.”
Her Path Goldberg migrated to the Big Apple from her native Rhode Island. “Until I started working here, I did not know what a pedorthist was,” she confessed. Goldberg earned a bachelor’s degree in acting from Hofstra University. “I really did not want to go into acting,” she said. “So I thought about costume design.” She discovered that theater jobs were scarce. “I needed work, so I started as a cashier at Eneslow,” Goldberg said. “But I found the training classes very interesting and became a pedorthist myself.” She said her boss, Bob Schwartz, CPED, encouraged her to be a pedorthist. Schwartz, a pioneer pedorthist, started EPI as part of his business.
Empathy Toward Others “What does it take to be a good pedorthist? You have to find feet interesting,” she said. “Feet are funny. A lot of people – women especially – are freaked out by feet. They have this weird thing about feet – ‘Oh, I don’t want you looking at my feet’ – that sort of thing. With a lot of women, their feet are forbidden territory. Most men don’t care one way or another – feet are just another body part.” Second, Goldberg said, a good pedorthist should be a good listener. “You’ve got to be sympathetic to the person whose feet hurt. You’ve got to be able to get along with a wide variety of people,” she said. “Person-to-person interaction is very important. If you want to be a pedorthist, it wouldn’t hurt to have a background in anatomy and physiology. But being good at person-to-person interaction seems more important to me. You’ve also got to be very observant.”
Clairvoyance on the Job One time, a Goldberg observation prompted a customer to pronounce her clairvoyant. “It’s one of my favorite stories from the floor,” Goldberg said with a grin. “I took the foot-beds out of a gentleman’s shoe. There was cat hair stuck to them.” “ I said to him, ‘Oh, you have cats.’ He replied; ‘You a psychic.’ I’m really not.” But she admits to practicing some psychology at the fitting stool. She said properly fitting footwear “is a mix of what the person wants in a shoe and the shoe their feet need to be in. So you have to convince the person what’s best them.” Often as not, she added, shoppers at the two Eneslow stores walk in wearing shoes too small for their feet. “People get attached to sizes,” Goldberg explained. “But it’s not just customers. Four out of five podiatry students who come to EPI as part of their rotations are wearing the wrong size shoe. Feet go onto foot-measuring devices before they go into shoes at the Eneslow store. “We teach students at EPI basic foot measurement and how to evaluate feet for fit,” she said. “We also teach them how shoes and feert interact and go over different types of shoe modifications.”
Perks of the Job Goldberg, who works at the Manhattan store, said she rarely helps staff the sales floor any more. “My duties vary from day to day,” she said. “By the time I got certified, I was already handling the administration for the classes and teaching the classes myself. I also lead field trips for the students.” In addition, she enjoys hosting grade school kids who come to Eneslow for field trips. “There is something in the first-grade curriculum about feet and shoes,” Goldberg said. “They go to a bunch of different shoe stores; ours is one of them. I show them different kinds of shoes. We find out which one has the biggest feet in the class and then have that child try on the biggest shoes in the store. I also show them the lab and how we cast our patients; feet. It is fun and educational for them and fun for me.” Goldberg said shoe biz has trumped show biz as her life’s calling. “It is important that whatever you do, you find your work interesting,” she said. While she’s happy working for Schwartz she does not share his baseball loyalties. Schwartz roots for the Yankees. Goldberg cheers for the team Yankee partisans love to hate. “I’m a Red Sox fan,” she said.
From left to right: John Strong (MBT), Sharon Seagrave (MBT), Robert S. Schwartz (Eneslow), Molly Currie (MBT) and Wayne Elsey (Soles4Souls).
For immediate release
Eneslow Donates $1,000,000 of Footwear to Soles4Souls
December 2008, New York, NY – Charity was alive in the hearts and souls at Eneslow the Foot Comfort Center when they hosted a Soles4Souls footwear donation drive and a festive networking event on December 4th at Eneslow’s world headquarters at 470 Park Avenue South in New York City.
Eneslow and their vendors donated over 30,000 pairs of shoes with a value over $1,000,000.00 to Soles4Souls, a charity based in Nashville, Tennessee that collects and distributes shoes to the less fortunate worldwide.
Included in this donation, corporate sponsor for the evening MBT donated 2,000 pairs valued at $500,000.00 and Aetrex donated another 500 pairs valued at $50,000 respectively.
Robert S. Schwartz, CEO of Eneslow stated “the community has really been great in delivering their shoes to us. Fortunately, people can still help by donating their unworn or gently worn shoes.”
“In these challenging economic times, the idea of giving a little more to this great cause was something everyone in our organization felt compelled to do.” MBT’s Vice President of Strategic Sales John Strong stated.
During the day, attendees were treated to a tour of the Eneslow facilities and a seminar “Pedorthic Management”. Former Olympian and MBT Trainer Sharon Seagrave gave training sessions to the afternoon attendees, and Oasis Day Spa gave complimentary foot masages, which all led up to the evening benefit for Soles4Souls.
The 23rd Street Association, a trade and civic association in Manhattan collected shoes from their members and urged local businesses and residents to deliver gently worn shoes for the less fortunate to the drop-box located at Eneslow 470 Park Avenue South, NYC location.
April 30, 2008 – NSRA bestowed the Al Singer Award on Robert S. Schwartz, C.Ped., owner of Eneslow, The Foot Comfort Center and founder of Eneslow Pedorthic Institute, in recognition of Schwartz's lifelong passion for education and his tireless efforts as a teacher and visionary.
The Al Singer Award was created in 2005, named for the late independent shoe store owner whose contributions to NSRA and the industry were broad and varied. It was intended to honor individuals who, like Singer, were valued by their peers "for independence, innovation and perseverance," and for their zeal in meeting challenges and contributing to the betterment of others.
"The Award is not an annual one," noted NSRA chairman Ed Habre, owner of Portland-Oregon-based Shoe Mill. "NSRA's Board of Directors created the Al Singer Award to honor individuals who have, over more than three decades of service, demonstrated their belief in and pursuit of its ideals. It is my pleasure to so recognize Bob Schwartz."
In response, Schwartz said, "Al Singer's ideas were outside the box and ahead of the curve. To have been chosen is a great honor. I will try to live up to what the award stands for."
Robert S. Schwartz receiving Al Singer Award from Ed Habre, NSRA Chair, January, 2008 Note: Robert S. Schwartz is also the Managing Director of the 23rd Street Association. Since 1909 The 23rd Street Association has continued to be the voice of the local business and residential communities, advocating for our members on issues critical to the economic vitality and quality of life within the area and throughout the City. To find out more information or learn how to become a member, please go to http://www.23rdstreet.org/
AETREX, ENESLOW AND NFL VETERAN PHIL SIMMS HOST MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL PARTY TO BENEFIT SOLES4SOULS CHARITY FOOTWEAR DRIVE - 3300 Pairs of Shoes Donated -
Teaneck, NJ (December 5, 2007) – Aetrex, Eneslow and NFL veteran and CBS Football Analyst Phil Simms hosted a Monday Night Football Party to benefit Soles4Souls Charity Footwear Drive on Monday night. As firm supporters of Soles4Souls, Aetrex and Eneslow donated 2,000 and 1,000 pairs of shoes respectively, contributing to Soles4Souls mission to impact the lives of people around the world with an indispensable item many people take for granted.
The event was held in New York City at Eneslow, a recognized leader in footwear retail, and drew a football-loving crowd of over 200 who arrived with shoes-in-hand, raising the number of donated shoes that evening to 3,300 pairs.
“We’re happy that we are in the position to help those less fortunate,” said Larry Schwartz, CEO of Aetrex. “It was a great event with guests enjoying the opportunity to talk football with our spokesperson and football legend Phil Simms, all the while contributing to a great cause.”
The event also provided an opportunity for guests to be among the first to see Aetrex’s new line of ultra light-weight, sleek-styled performance footwear, featuring the highest standards in comfort, breathability and performance. The collection, 15 designs each for men and women, includes Runners, Cross Trainers and Trail Runners and combines Aetrex’s unique pedorthic benefits with technologically-advanced materials.
Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) charity and distributes new and used shoes to people in need in over 40 countries on 5 continents. About Aetrex Worldwide, Inc. Aetrex Worldwide, with over 25 Certified Pedorthists on staff, is the industry leader in pedorthic footwear, the leading manufacturer of mid-priced orthotics and the No. 1 provider of foot scanning and measuring technology for retailers in the medical community. The $50-million dollar corporation, founded in 1946 and privately owned by the Schwartz family for three generations, is comprised of three divisions – Aetrex Performance Products, Aetrex Technology & Education, and Aetrex Therapeutic Footcare. When Aetrex was founded, its focus was on pedorthics. As time went on, Aetrex used its medical and scientific expertise to develop more products to help consumers with a broader range of foot problems. For additional information, go to www.aetrex.com.
configuration of the heel and sole is the key to the MBT shoe.
MBT: What does it do? itchanges the “muscle memory”, the way the body works and responds.
MBT: How does it work?
By way of its “Heel rocker”: There is no heel contact.Because of the way the heel is designed, contact occurs in front of the heel. This decelerates impact forces.
Most other shoes have a heel that is higher than the sole and is made of hard materials; that results in a higher impact force at heel contact.
"Arch sensor" is the cushion under the arch that creates a sense of instability, forcing the wearer to use muscles above the foot to support the arch and create stability.
"Rock & Roll” mechanism of the sole from the midfoot to the toe reduces impact forceswhen the heel comes off the ground during the propulsive phase of gait.
A healthier person deserves MBT to improve balance, posture, alignment, gait,
circulation, and muscle tone. MBT is easy for this individual to adjust to the
mechanical forces that the shoe creates, within a few days.
A weaker the person the more challenging the process. MBT can help this individual
train under the direction of a professional or self-train to improve balance,
posture, alignment, gait, circulation, and muscle tone.
When possible, a professional that is intimately aware of this individual’s medical and
mechanical history should be consulted. The use of MBT can be a slow and arduous
process that not all individuals can and will accept.
MBT: What styles and sizes are available?
From size 4 (women’s) up to size 15 (men’s).
Shoe Retailing Today March-April 2007 "Eneslow's New Store - 470 Park Avenue South"
