About Us
Eric and Ellen Gil have owned and operated Sockshop and Shoe Company since 1988. Here's how it all started. In 1982 Ellen and Eric moved to Santa Cruz, California. Eric was working for Pacific Bell in San Jose and Ellen was working for a Home Store in downtown, Santa Cruz called ID (Integrand Design). Both in our early 20's, it was a dream to be living in such a diverse area with an inspiring culture for the arts and a creative soul for independent thinking. Santa Cruz is a fertile place for new business ideas and can inspire those ideas just in its being. Even today with its mix of the University (UCSC) and beach/mountain geography it is a place of great openness by its very nature.
The big issue for Ellen and Eric was - how to work and build a life in Santa Cruz without having to commute over the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Silicon Valley to make a living. In 1983 Eric was mulling over this obstacle. For whatever reason he came up with an idea for a store filled with nothing but socks. He thought it would have a fun appeal, with all the textures and colors a small store like this would envelop. He suggested this to Ellen and a handful of friends and really didn't get a round of applause. However, he was not discouraged. Although it took a few more years to convince Ellen and investors to give his idea a go its been an adventure worth its while.
In 1987 E & E went to New York and low and behold there was a store with nothing but socks and tights. It was packed with people, and of course Eric said, "I told you so". When we returned from that trip, Ellen went looking for a small affordable space. She found it within weeks. Thus it was born "Sockshop Santa Cruz" opened April 1, 1988. People would walk by and ask what we were going to put in the 500 Sq. Ft. space and when we told them, they would laugh and make bets on how long we would survive. It turned out that the Santa Cruz locals loved our new store. We were immediately successful and paid off our loan at the end of that year. The following year we opened another store in Carmel and it too was successful. This would be the end of beginner's luck.
On October 17, 1989 a 7.1 earthquake hit the Santa Cruz area with a vengeance. See picture to right. This is a group of family and a friend who helped Ellen and me in a great time need. The building we were in was condemned and most of the downtown area was cordoned off. This could have been the end of our independent business, but again Santa Cruz creative thinking pulled off something that might only be possible in Santa Cruz. Someone came up with the idea to put the displaced downtown businesses in portable circus sized tents in the parking lots behind the downtown area by Thanksgiving. It was to the credit of many people at all levels of the community, and I believe it saved many businesses and created some new ones on the way. It took many years for new infrastructure to be put in place and property owners to rebuild the downtown area. The earthquake tents were an active and fun environment for at least 2 years. There were furniture, book, music, apparel and jewelry stores all under a few tents. It ended in 1991 and Sockshop was moved to a side street for a couple of years waiting for a new space on Pacific Avenue to come available.
In 1992 E & E were mulling over the future of the business. In talking over many options, we came up with the idea of adding European Comfort shoes to the store. In 1993 we moved into a new 1200 Sq. Ft. store at a new location on Pacific Ave. in downtown Santa Cruz, thus was born "Sockshop & Shoe Company". This too was an instant success. Over the years we have added many new lines of shoes. We have also made it our mission to provide the best service and quality staff found in any shoe store. We still have the best selection of socks I have ever seen anywhere. In 1996 we moved into a 2500 Sq. Ft. storefront with a unique feel of comfort in a Santa Cruz style. Sockshop & Shoe Company have customers coming from all over the area to purchase some of the best shoes in the industry. We have some of the best shoe brands in the shoe world including Ecco, Birkenstock, Naot, Dansko, Wolky, Josef Siebel and many many more. We invite you to enjoy great service and expertise with a group of people that truly have a unique love for the footwear business!