A new children’s shoe store is opening soon in Kirkwood.
Go Play Shoes is going into a one-story space at 1971 College Avenue NE. The store will feature shoe brands that prioritize pediatric orthopedics, fair-labor practices and environmental sustainability.
Business partners Holly Juras and Sam Mugavero wanted to create a better shoe-shopping experience. There will be a treehouse in the middle of the kid-friendly store, so children can play in between being fitted for their footwear.
“Anything at their level, they’re able to touch,” Juras said. “Parents don’t have to worry about, ‘Can my child touch that? They’re gonna break that.’ It’s removing those barriers.”
As parents themselves, Juras and Mugavero know how difficult it can be to find the right shoes for children online, or alternatively, spending a good chunk of the weekend making the trek to a quality shoe store. They wanted to fill the gap of something that was missing in the area, where they have both lived for years.
“There’s nothing on this side of town outside of big-box stores that offer fittings, to make this a much more stress-free or a stressless environment,” Mugavero said.
Expect some products you might not see elsewhere. The focus is not only on style and proper fit of the shoes themselves, but on brands that are environmentally sustainable and have fair-labor practices.
“We put a lot of thought into which brands we want to carry,” Juras said.
Stay tuned on their Instagram @GoPlayShoes.
[Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with more information from the store’s owners.]
