Company has 170 stores, more than half of which are located in California, though there is a presence in several other states

Photo by Robert Airoldi The Shoe Palace site on Jarvis Drive. The 503,400-square-foot building will serve as the headquarters for the company with 170 retail stores in various states across the country.

By Staff Report

Shoe Palace Corporation will move its headquarters this summer to the newly constructed building at 755 Jarvis Drive, west of U.S. 101. The facility is a 503,400-square-foot building that includes 65,000 square feet of office space. The company’s expansion into the building is made possible with the recent partnership created with Shoe Palace’s purchase by JD Sports Fashion Plc, the largest retailer of sports, fashion, and outdoor brands.

Based in Morgan Hill on a 38-acre site, Shoe Palace was established in San Jose in 1993 by the Mersho family and currently has 170 stores, the vast majority of which trade under the Shoe Palace banner, according to their website.

More than half of the stores are located in California in malls, shopping centers and outlets. Shoe Palace’s first mall location opened in October 2003 at the Oakridge Mall in San Jose.

The chain has grown in the past three decades to establish retail presence in Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Colorado, New Mexico, and Hawaii, with the store network supported by a developing eCommerce platform. A typical store is about 4,000 square feet and is operated by 10 to 15 employees.

The Mersho Brothers continue to manage the Shoe Palace business.

“We are excited to continue to serve and support our Morgan Hill facility and utilize the new building for what it was intended and designed,” said George Mersho, CEO of Shoe Palace, in a press release. “We could not imagine being a part of a better community. We look forward to getting more involved and engaged with Morgan Hill.”

Shoe Palace contributed $5,000 to the Local Heroes fund feeding local medical professionals supporting the COVID-19 pandemic. The company is also putting together a program with the Boys and Girls Club to provide shoes to more than 250 local  children.

“This is welcome news,” said Morgan Hill City Manager Christina Turner. “There was uncertainty and to some extent anxiety in the community about the future of the new building, and we are pleased to see it will be fully utilized by Shoe Palace as originally planned.”