Warehouse Shoe Sale
WSS, formerly known as Warehouse Shoe Sale, is a national retail chain of shoe stores headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with 92 retail outlets as of January 2020.[1] Its parent company is known as Eurostar, Inc. (not related to the railway company).[2]
WSS is a family footwear retailer which primarily serves the urban and Latino communities. It was founded in 1984 by Eric Alon, who is still involved with the company.[2] Rick Mina is the company's current president.[3] They also own and operate the online retailer ShopWSS.com.
WSS gives back to local communities by sponsoring or participating in over 350 local events each year. In 2015, WSS donated $250,000 to the Los Angeles County Alliance Boys & Girls Clubs and kicked off a long-term initiative where each WSS store is paired with a local Boys & Girls Club and WSS volunteers work with Club members to support their activities through events, games, tutoring and special programs. Each Boys & Girls Club also receives WSS gift cards that are used to incentivize and reward youth for academic improvement and excellence.[4]
History
The first store opened in Marina Del Rey, California and gained popularity for selling discounted shoes that had minor defects. As the business grew there were not enough defective shoes to sell so they stopped with that business practice and started selling regular shoes.
References
- "About Us". ShopWSS.com. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- "Eurostar, Inc". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
- "WSS' President, Mark Archer, On Jordan, Expansion & More". Footwear News. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
- "Actor Anthony Anderson Joins Forces with Footwear Retailer WSS to Present $250,000 Donation to Neighborhood Los Angeles County Alliance Boys & Girls Clubs". Businesswire. Retrieved 14 May 2015.