Payless Shop in Grocery Store

Payless ShoeSource Inc. (Topeka, Kan.), the nation's largest footwear retailer, has announced the debut of a 700-square-foot Payless ShoeSource Express Store in an HEB Grocery Store in Laredo, Texas.

“Seasonal footwear has been available in a limited way in grocery stores for many years,” said Payless chief marketing officer and senior vp of business development John Haugh. “But this is the first time we've executed a full store-within-store setup in a grocery store. We know that consumers will appreciate the convenience this approach delivers.”

The shop, owned and operated by the footwear retailer, features women's and kids' products to match the grocery shopping demographic, which is made up primarily of women who tend to shop for themselves or their children. It will offer a subset of the seasonal collection found in a full-scale Payless store.

“This program gives us another means to build awareness of our product and brand,” said Haugh. “As more consumers try and are satisfied with our products it ultimately strengthens the overall Payless franchise.”

Payless runs about 4780 self-service discount stores, mostly in the US, but also in Canada, the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, South America and the South Pacific. It also operates Parade (women's shoes), Bundles and Tootsies (socks and accessories) stores. It primarily targets women between the ages of 18 and 44. Its North American stores stock more than 8200 pairs of shoes in 500 styles.