Three generations later and Jakes Shoes is still one of Stockport’s independents thriving

Tucked away on Princess Street is one of Stockport’s longest-standing, independent businesses, Jakes Shoes. The shop is now owned by Maisie Bland, who has worked in the store since the age of eight and continues the legacy started by her grandmother’s passion for stylish footwear. 

The shop stocks everything from timeless classics to one-of-a-kind finds, carefully handpicked by Maisie herself. It’s clear the family’s passion for shoes has been passed down through the generations. Maisy shares how it all began and the journey that has shaped the business into what it is today. 

Incredible store Maisie, tell us a bit about you and it.  

“I am Maisie, and I own Jakes Shoe’s in Stockport. We are an independent shoe shop; we were set up in 1975 by my grandparents. And yeah, our family still has it 51 years later. My dad took it over after my grandparents, he’s worked in the shop since he could walk. I’ve worked here since I was 8, and then when I was 21, I took over from my dad.” 

So, what made your grandparents decide to open a shoe shop?  

“So, my grandma originally owned a hairdressing salon in Bridlington, but she loved going to London and she would always go and buy funky boots and then she’d come back and all her customers would be complimenting her on them. So, she decided that she was going to go to London, visit wholesalers, buy some boots, and put them in her salon window and just see what happened. And she sold out pretty much immediately and realised that selling shoes was going to be much more profitable than cutting hair!” 

Did you know from being young that this is what you wanted to do or did it make sense as you got older?  

 Yeah, so I’ve worked in the shop since I was little. I was originally selling crocs, getting paid in chocolate, just running around. Customers would like laugh at me because I was clearly too young to be working.  

“And then I always said I didn’t want to take over because I thought, oh, I want to do my own thing. I worked in mental health for a bit. But then my dad said, ‘I’m selling it, I’m selling it for real this time, if you don’t take it it’s gone.’ And so yeah, here I am. I couldn’t say goodbye to it. It would be too sad to walk past and see that someone else was owning it or that it wasn’t here.” 

What’s it like to be part of Stockport?  

“I think we’ve got a really nice customer base who have shopped with us for years and years. Their parents brought them to get their school shoes and now they’re bringing their own kids to get their school shoes, which is nice. I think Stockport’s really championing independent businesses and so it’s nice to be part of that community.”  

“I’m actually a director for Stockport Business Improvement District (BID), as well, so it’s nice to like be part of that and meet lots of locals.” 

“We have had quite a lot of filming, both here and in our old store. So, we had Coronation Street film here, and then we have had a few independent films as well.” 

Where do you get your inspiration for shoes from? Is this something that you’ve learnt from your family, or a taste that you’ve acquired on your own? 

A bit of a mix to be honest. I’ve been buying with my dad forever, we’ve got really good relationships with brands. We work with big brands like, Doc Martins, that maybe some independents would struggle to stock, but because we’ve been going for so long, we’ve got these established relationships. And then it’s a bit of, looking at trends, following lots of brands on social media, but then also we cater for families. It can be old people, younger people, so yeah, a mix of everything.” 

And what do your customers say?  

I think a lot of them are just really pleased that we’re still here, because obviously it’s a difficult business climate at the moment, and a lot of people’s favourite shops are having to close; it’s hard. So, I think people are glad we’re still here and glad that we still offer unique items that they can’t get in other shoe shops.” 

And how has the shop change through the years, do you think? Or has it stayed the same?  

It’s definitely changed. We get new stock in all the time. I think the way people shop has changed, so more people are shopping online, but then they’re realising that with shoes you need to come into a store. And I think we have a nice retail environment.” 

And in its new era, what’d you want to become known for?  

“I just want to continue to grow, continue to stop more exciting brands. I think people are getting more adventurous with their fashion choices. There’s more colour, there’s more exciting items, and it’s given me the opportunity to take on new brands and bring a bit more excitement to the shop.  

“We recently started doing Saucony, which I absolutely love. I love running and so it’s really nice to have like a running range available and they also do a nice fashion range as well. And then we’ve got a nice brand called Victoria, they do loads of like colourful suede trainers.”