The move from North Andover will bring more than 400 Converse employees to the city by 2015.
They're a favorite of Kevin McHale and Larry Bird. Parisian girls wear them like they're the only sneakers on earth. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will rock them at the Golden Globes. And, soon, Boston will be the place they come from. That's right: Converse Inc., the company behind the legendary Chuck Taylors, is moving its world headquarters to Boston as part of the $230 million redevelopment of the North End's Lovejoy Warf in Bulfinch Triangle. The city announced on Tuesday that the North Andover shoe company will relocate its expanded world headquarters to the city by April 2015. Four hundred employees will work in approximately 187,000 square feet of new office space near the TD Garden, according to the city's announcement. “They say …
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The owner said high rents and lower traffic than expected forced him to close.
The entrepreneur behind GotSole 1981, an apparel and skateboard shop on Centre Street, has closed his JP retail space. "We love JP with everything in us, we just couldn't afford to stay there due to the rent being so high," said Joel Harper in an email to Patch. Harper said the clothing store, which specialized in hip urban wear including sneakers, might open a storefront in Egleston Square in early 2013. Meanwhile, the business continues online at http://www.gotsole1981.com/. Harper said he thanked JP and the community for their support. The 617 Centre St. space now stands vacant.
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The well-known, no-frills shoe store in Jamaica Plain has recovered from the 2008 recession and sold more than 1,000 pairs of shoes last year.
One of JP's oldest retail businesses, George's Shoes, fits into a tiny but absolutely packed space of roughly 400 sq. ft. A rack of clothing and accessories stands in the center. Shoes line the perimeter of the 669 Centre St. institution. Well-used benches skirt the shelving and designer specialties hang by wooden clothespins on open shoe boxes. Customers stream in and out constantly. There is nothing elegant about George's except the shoes themselves and the simplicity of it all. With no frills, an ear constantly to the ground, and a contact list in the industry over 50 years deep, Benton "Ben" Abrams turns up one lot of designer shoes after another. Shoes can be an endless obsession. It is not uncommon for a woman to buy a specific pair …
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Purveyor of comfortable shoes, Riyo Hirota has opened a shop that hopes to capitalize on the casual JP lifestyle.
Millipede, Jamaica Plain's newest shoe store, quietly opened its doors at 7 Pond St. on July 16. After working out the kinks, its grand opening on August 4th was timed to make a bigger impact, taking advantage of JP's monthly retail celebration, First Thursday. Owner Riyo Hirota, 32, said that the turnout at the grand opening was encouraging and the initial days have been as good as can been expected. Although there's a possibility that the store will be immediately profitable, she is prepared for an extended period of little to no profitability which is characteristic for new businesses. She expects to do what it takes in the meantime and for now is the company's only full time employee. Comfortable with hard work, Hirota has been living …
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3:54 pm on Monday, August 22, 2011
Great store! I bought a pair of purple El Naturalistas and I love them... so comfortable and different. more ›
Rosa
11:56 am on Friday, August 26, 2011
Lifetime JP resident and I really, really like this place. Its def hit or miss but when its a hit-its a major hit. Thank You! more ›