News From Mazon Associates, Inc.

Born in Badin, North Carolina in 1937, Robert Tucker attended high school in Kannapolis, NC. He struggled in the classroom, but excelled in sports (track & field), earning several medals along the way. Robert graduated from high school in 1957, and made plans to marry Carolyn, his high school sweetheart that same summer. Since Robert was a child, he had always been a hard worker, intent on earning money, a trait inspired and encouraged by his mother, Gertrude Tucker. During his high school years he had held several jobs including delivering newspapers on his bicycle, some door-to-door selling, working in his stepfather's restaurant, working at the local Dairy Queen drive-in restaurant, working on his grandparents' farm in Stanly County and working part-time in a local shoe store. After Robert and Carolyn married, he went to work at a local retail shoe store. His ability to know what his customers wanted, his work ethic, quick learning and natural talent as an entrepreneur led to the 1960 opening of his first self-service shoe store in Kannapolis, NC. Robert and Carolyn named their new store "Shoe Show" because they shopped at shoe shows for merchandise to stock the store. To keep expenses down, they found used carpet from a church that had undergone renovation and picked up a secondhand cash register for $75. Instead of ordering standard business telephone service, he asked for a less expensive two-party line. He ordered a simple black and white sign to hang over the store entrance and designed shoe racks so they could be made cheaply out of plywood and lumber.

Slowly and steadily, the business expanded into markets which competitors often overlooked, first in eastern North Carolina, and then to smaller towns beyond North Carolina. Shoe Show has and continues to operate on a simple, basic principle of providing quality products, service and value - a principle that has withstood the competition, the ups and downs in the economy, and the changing habits of consumers. Nearly 50 years later, Shoe Show, Inc. has outlasted others to become the nation's largest independent shoe retailer with 1,117 locations in 36 states with stores named Shoe Show, Shoe Dept. and Burlington Shoes. Expense control has always been Shoe Show, Inc.'s corporate structure, continually holding expenses to a minimum. Shoe Show has no public relations department or company spokesperson. Robert Tucker is the sole shareholder and does not answer to outside investors. He has no detailed strategic plan. Although he is continually watching expenses and doesn't buy what Shoe Show can produce on its own, his employees are some of the best paid in the industry and he benefits from their loyalty and accumulated experience. Robert Tucker once told a reporter, "Most businesses don't go broke for lack of sales, they go broke for lack of controlling expenses."

Today, the Tuckers are millionaires many times over and live a modest lifestyle in Concord, NC. Both Robert and Carolyn continue to work every day and have no plans to retire. In their leisure time, Carolyn enjoys gardening and Robert pursues his life-long passion for hunting. They own a 600-acre farm in Albemarle, NC (Stanly County) which today is used for recreation, family get-togethers, horse riding, hunting, growing hay for their horses and corn. Their four children (Gregory, Jacqueline, Lisa and Bobby) were introduced to the family business as youngsters and hold key positions at Shoe Show. The Tuckers place great value on social and community activities that assist the local area. Shoe Show, Inc. is active in a number of charitable causes including Cooperative Christian Ministries, Bible Teaching Associations, Salvation Army, Hospice and Palliative Care of Cabarrus County, Crisis Pregnancy Center, CVAN, Gardner-Webb University, and Association of Retarded Citizens. The Tuckers credit their love of God, love for each other, their family and others for the success of Shoe Show, Inc.

You can read the history of Shoe Show, Inc. in the newly published 126-page book, Under the Radar, How Robert Tucker Built Shoe Show, Inc. into the Nation's Largest Independent Shoe Retailer by Howard E. Covington, Jr. (sold only at Shoe Show stores and on their website www.shoeshow.com) (Printed with permission of Carolyn Tucker.)