Asian Shoe Store Owner Only Allows Customers to Try Pairs on Outside

And they were really distraught when I walked in with shoes on?

December 14, 2021

PHILADELPHIA – Ted Fringles was surprised when he visited Everest Shoes and the owner made him go outside to try on the footwear he was interested in, sources confirmed.

“That was definitely the first time I had heard that request,” admitted Fringles. “Usually when I go to a shoe store, the owners do everything they can to make sure you DON’T go outside with them. I thought he was joking, so when I laughed and he didn’t, I wasn’t sure what to do. To top it all off, it was snowing that day. Plus, the shoes weren’t even in boxes. They were in plastic grocery bags he pulled out from under a sink. He just had me look at a menu and point at the ones I was thinking about buying. I didn’t even have to ask him if there were any other sizes in the back. They were all in the back.”

Martin Vong, the owner of Everest Shoes for more than 20 years, didn’t care for Fringles’s attitude.

“I didn’t appreciate the eye roll he gave me when he told me it was snowing outside,” quipped Vong. “We live in Philly, not Phoenix. It snows here. It’s not like I was telling him to try on his underwear out there. He was whining that the shoes would get dirty and wet. So what? Was he going to wear them inside his house? If so, he deserves the mess. I’m not selling house slippers here.”

However, not everyone is averse to Vong’s style.

“I love this store,” countered Cynthia Moon. “I’ve been shopping here for years. If I need to use the restroom when I’m here shopping, I know the floors aren’t going to be filthy because everyone takes their disgusting shoes off at the door. Then, when I find a pair I do like, I can stroll around the neighborhood and see myself in the other shop windows. The shoes are chained to the store so it’s not like I can just run away anyway.”

Vong also owns the bowling alley next door where, ironically, the policy is to always keep the business’s shoes inside.