A longtime southwestern Iowa shoe wholesaler has relocated its headquarters to Dallas Center, where its management team hopes the company will be able to find employees and other resources to help it grow.

In October, Brown’s Shoe Fit Co., which opened in Shenandoah in 1911, acquired property on the outskirts of Dallas Center that includes nearly 6 acres and an office/warehouse building. The structure at 205 Fairview Drive had sat empty since 2019, when Pioneer Hi-Bred vacated it.

 “A lot of small towns in Iowa are losing population,” said Cammie McKenzie, Brown’s Shoe Fit’s president. “Shenandoah is no different. It’s hard to grow in a town that’s not growing.”

And while Dallas Center’s population of nearly 2,000 is less than half that of Shenandoah’s (4,884), the community is growing, as are other nearby towns, McKenzie said. “Dallas Center is a small town. But it’s near resources that will allow us to grow.”

The company’s relocation to Dallas Center will help spark more growth in the community, said Danny Beyer, the community’s mayor. The company is using local businesses to help prepare the building for use, he said. In addition, area home builders are fast-tracking construction of new houses that they hope employees of Brown’s Shoe Fit will be interested in purchasing.

“Honestly, I think their move here is probably going to be a pretty big deal for our local economy,” Beyer said.

History of Brown’s Shoe Fit

Win Brown opened his first shoe store in the summer of 1911 in a space that was only 9 feet wide and was located next to a bank in Shenandoah. Each day, Brown packed up a supply of shoes and called on residents in Iowa, trying to sell them shoes. By February 1913, Brown’s net worth was $6,000, and when his lease expired the following year, he moved his store to 611 W. Sheridan Ave., where it still operates in Shenandoah.

Brown, according to the website, believed that people should have an opportunity to own and operate their own business. He often made people interested in the shoe business a partner and loaned them money to open a shoe store.

“We pretty much operate the same way today,” McKenzie said.

The company buys a variety of shoes — athletic, dress and casual — from manufacturers and then sells them to the owner-operators of 72 stores located in 12 states. Retail operators own a share of their stores, which record over $100 million in sales annually, McKenzie said.

Brown’s Shoe Fit has survived being squeezed out of business by big-box stores largely because of the way the company is organized, McKenzie said. “The managers are owners; they have skin in the game. They buy the products their communities want and need. We don’t tell them what shoes to carry. … I think that’s why we’ve survived through the years.”

Relocating to Dallas Center

Company leaders contemplated relocating for a year or more but were reluctant to leave Shenandoah, McKenzie said. However, snowstorms in early 2024 caused a roof to collapse on one of the company’s buildings in Shenandoah. “We had to ask: ‘Do you re-invest there or do you find a location that’s closer to a metropolitan area where you can grow?’”

Company officials looked at properties in Kansas City, Omaha and Des Moines but didn’t find buildings that fit their needs, McKenzie said. After more searching, they came across the vacant building in Dallas Center.

The nearly 50,000-square-foot building included space for the company’s administrative and marketing teams, an area for a woodworking shop where fixtures for stores are constructed, and plenty of warehouse space.

“We were spread out in separate buildings in Shenandoah, which didn’t have a place to house all of us under one roof,” McKenzie said. “To have this opportunity to be all under one roof is fantastic. It’s almost like the building was made for us.”

Brown’s Shoe Fit acquired the property from Peter and Sheri Fazio for $4.65 million, according to Dallas County real estate records.

About 30 people will be employed at Brown’s Shoe Fit’s Dallas Center headquarters. Fifteen employees are relocating to Dallas Center with Brown’s Shoe; 15 others opted not to move, McKenzie said.

The facility in Dallas Center will allow Brown’s Shoe Fit to have an on-site training facility where it will train entrepreneurs on how to run a business. The company currently has about 20 people in its training program.

The new headquarters will also allow the company to expand its warehouse and launch a website that allows customers to order shoes online.

Most of Brown’s Shoe Fits’ operations moved to Dallas Center in November. The warehouse will be relocated in January, McKenzie said.

A retail store will remain in Shenandoah, McKenzie said.

“We are sad to leave Shenandoah, but the people in Dallas Center have been so welcoming,” McKenzie said. “This will be a good fit for us.”

Advice about relocating businesses

Cammie McKenzie and her team at Brown’s Shoe Fit spent several months searching for a new location for the company’s headquarters. We asked her to share what she learned from the experience:

“Patience is important. It takes a lot of time to find what you’re looking for; you’re not going to find it right away. Also, I didn’t realize how many resources were available to help companies that are relocating or need to relocate. The Greater Dallas County Development Alliance put us in touch with state of Iowa officials and the folks at [Des Moines Area Community College]. I didn’t know all of those resources existed.”