VP Shoes set to open on Route 1

Vernon Powell Shoes, a homegrown and highly respected Delmarva retailer, is set to open not one but three new stores on Route 1 in Rehoboth Beach.

The company will soon open its brand-new New Balance concept store, along with relocating VP Shoes and SAS Outlet to the new location between Saketumi and Burger King.

VP Shoes President Joe Wright said, “Our leases were expiring in the Tanger Outlet center. We looked at our options of staying versus moving. Our Realtor Casey Kenton came up with this piece of property, which would allow us to put New Balance and SAS in one location side-by-side. But it was a 10,000-square-foot building so we decided to put a Vernon Powell in the middle.”

Wright said it made more sense, businesswise, to have all the stores in one centralized location.

“We realized from having our Salisbury operation, where we used to have multiple locations, that it’s much easier to operate stores side-by-side than to have stores spread out,” Wright said.

The most notable addition is the New Balance concept store, which will sell only New Balance shoes and apparel, as opposed to selling the brand at The Athlete store in Tanger Seaside outlet.

“We found that a number of independent shoe store operators were operating New Balance concept stores. They were very happy and successful with them, so we decided to approach New Balance and see about the process of opening one. They decided it was a fit for them,” Wright said.

Besides carrying New Balance’s traditional running, walking, cross-training and tennis shoes, Wright said the store would also have the company’s Aravon and Dunham lines of casual footwear and boots.

“More styles, more colors in the styles and more sizes and widths. Just a deeper inventory, a much deeper inventory than we had at the outlets,” he said.

The new Vernon Powell store will be a mix of the athletic product found in the outlets and merging it with the more casual lines found in VP’s superstore in Salisbury. “We’re creating a mini version of our Salisbury store,” Wright said.

Among new lines coming in are Vera Bradley and Brighton handbags, European comfort shoes such as Ecco and Clarks, and work boots. The new VP will have a larger variety of the popular Ugg boot line, along with a greater selection of technical running shoes, walking and shaping and toning shoes. Wright said he is also hoping to eventually have North Face winter wear.

The third piece of the puzzle is the SAS Outlet store, which is also relocating from the Tanger Outlets. Unlike VP and New Balance, there are no major changes in store for SAS, which will feature the same product and have the same staff.

SAS, short for San Antonio Shoes, is a comfort shoe line that is highly recommended by doctors for patients with foot problems. VP Shoes and SAS have been partners since 1995, when the Rehoboth outlet opened. Wright said VP Shoes now has six SAS stores in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The Athlete in Tanger Outlets will remain open through June, Wright said, unless another tenant wants to take the space. He said the store would continue to sell athletic product but with more discounted items.

“We’ll continue to operate it as long as our lease remains in effect,” Wright said.

VP Shoes is a family-run business, started in Salisbury in 1936 by Wright’s great-grandfather Vernon Powell. Wright’s father, Phil, came into the business in the 1960s and oversaw an expansion of stores into Seaford; Easton, Md.; and Onley, Va. Wright, the fourth-generation family member in the business, took over as president in 2008, while his father became CEO.

No official date has been set for opening the stores, although Wright hopes the New Balance and VP stores will be open soon.

Go to vpshoes.com