BROOKINGS – What Nick Kolterman, owner and founder of Fit My Feet Orthotics & Shoes, calls an “old fashioned sit-and-fit shoe store that used to be like Kinney shoes” is coming to Brookings.
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BROOKINGS – What Nick Kolterman, owner and founder of Fit My Feet Orthotics & Shoes, calls an “old fashioned sit-and-fit shoe store that used to be like Kinney shoes” is coming to Brookings.
It’s occupying the former Payless Shoe Source at 720 25th Ave. and opens for business Friday. There are two other Fit My Feet stores in South Dakota: one in Sioux Falls and one in Dakota Dunes.
“We do orthotics and we do braces for all sorts of diagnoses,” explained Kolterman, a board-certified pedorthist, a specialist trained to modify footwear and use supportive devices to correct conditions of the feet and lower limbs.
“We work with podiatry; endocrinology for diabetes; rheumatologists for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Pedorthists are the experts who design, manufacture, modify and fit footwear, including custom foot and ankle orthoses, to alleviate foot problems caused by disease, overuse, or injury.
“Our background is medical, but we merged the retail world into medical and that’s what made us successful. We see patients and treat different diagnoses in our shoe store.
“You name it. We see a multitude of diagnoses from physicians in the (Brookings) community.”
While Fit My Feet will custom-fit shoes and orthotics prescribed by a healthcare practitioner, Kolterman noted that the store also welcomes people walking in off the street “looking for good shoes and maybe orthotics.”
“We cater to what I call the organic customer,” he added, “a person that says, ‘Hey, I don’t have a major foot problem, but I just want to wear good shoes’ or ‘I need to be in a better-fitting shoe.’
“We’re practitioners in orthotics and prosthetics. And we cater to the patient care within a retail setting, which has not ever been done before in this area. I sort of created a niche within a market which already exists.
“Anybody can go anywhere and buy a pair of shoes, but they don’t get us. They don’t get the knowledge and expertise that comes with the medical background.”
Four people will work in the store.
Kolterman will be in Fit My Feet during business hours on Friday and Saturday, serving customers and answering questions about what the store offers.
The Brookings location will be open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. It is closed Sundays.
Contact John Kubal at jkubal@brookingsregister.com.
