PRPG:

The Shoe Shop That Time Forgot

December 11, 2014

In 2013, a man stepped inside a boarded-up shoe store that was once owned by his great-grandmother. What he and his relatives found inside could be worth a fortune.

Old Shoe ShopLast year, a Reddit user known only as “oktober75” posted links to some very odd photographs. The images revealed the interior of a dusty shoe shop that once belonged to their great-grandmother. She opened it in the 1940s but, after she fell ill about 20 years later, the business was shuttered. It’s remained almost entirely untouched ever since.

When “oktober75”’s family decided to unlock the fully stocked shop and have a look inside, he grabbed a camera and tagged along. Remarkably, it had avoided the attention of thieves and vandals in the 50-plus years since its closure. Many of the shoes are part of lines and from brands that have since been forgotten or went out of business long ago. Not everything on the shop’s shelves was from the ‘60s either. The family discovered mint-condition high heels from the Truman administration and many pairs of classic Converse high-tops. As “oktober75” later revealed, oddly enough, that his grandmother was known for hanging on to random stuff in the hopes that it would be someday worth something.

After posting the photos, “oktober75” was slammed with numerous requests from people eager to buy the shoes. Despite his efforts to inform them that much of the footwear was too brittle to walk around in and had fallen victim to years of neglect, the shoe shop is still considered a potential treasure trove by collectors all around the world.

Over a year after the photos were posted on the internet, little is known about the business other than it was called The First Class Shoe Shop and that it’s located somewhere in America. Eager to offset looters, “oktober75” opted to keep its location a mystery…and his own identity a secret.