Rod's Shoes

Rod's Shoes is a delightful little shoe store in downtown Ukiah, California. It is about a three hour drive from my house, but it is where I purchase the majority of my shoes these days. We visit Ukiah a couple of times each year to see friends, so it's not really out of my way. I don't enjoy shopping very much, but Rod's Shoes is certainly an exception.

Rod's Shoes sells comfortable shoes, both athletic and casual dress. I appreciate that a great deal because I have wider, flatter feet than other people who wear my size, or at least the shoe manufacturers seem to think so. Yet, I can almost always walk out of Rod's Shoes with something that will last a long time and keep me comfortable for many miles.

If you walk into Rod's Shoes, you are very likely to meet Rod, although he has a couple of assistants, too. I like knowing that my money will go to him. Rod has sold shoes for thirty years, probably, and it shows. He performs the motion of untying a shoe, placing it on a customer's foot and lacing it almost as an art form, and he seems still to relish the action each time.

Rod knows me, by face, if not by name. He knows I come from out of town and buy the last pair of discontinued size six shoes, and he's always glad to see them go. Rod likes to chat, too, just enough to be pleasant without being boring. He sells shoes because he loves selling shoes and talking to customers, and that's the reason he has stuck it out there so long, even through some lean times.

If you see Rod, tell him the one from out of town, with the small feet said hello.