Mix & Match

From the Writer's Relief facebook page

There wasn’t much else Shoes 4 U owner Clint Peterson could do but put up a rummage sale sign on Saturday, after a disgruntled employee went above and beyond to make a statement while offering his resignation. “It’s really been quite successful,” Peterson said, in an amazed tone. “If he still worked for me, I think I’d have to give him a raise.”

Startled passersby stopped to dig through the pile of Shoes 4 U merchandise that had been dumped in the middle of the Hamilton Street Mall this weekend, so Peterson started selling. “I would have had to move them all back to the store,” he said with a shrug, “And I guess I’m going to sell them either way.”

Peterson got a panicked call early Saturday morning, letting him know that the store looked like it had been burgled. “She didn’t know how they got everything out, since none of the windows were broken and the doors were locked.” But while on the phone with her boss, Peterson’s assistant manager, Michelle Reid, found a message on the floor: “I QUIT” spelled with shoeboxes. “I knew that one of our employees wasn’t entirely happy with the job, but I never thought he would go this far,” she said with a laugh.

The determined prankster removed Shoes 4 U’s entire inventory and relocated it to the Hamilton Street Mall sometime between 3 and 6 AM on Saturday morning. “It’s amazing,” Reid remarked, “he never worked this hard when he was being paid.” Reid then called the police, who located the missing shoes an hour later. When Reid and Peterson arrived to recover it, there were already a few customers browsing. Reid said, “We got there and right away a lady came up to me and asked, ‘how much are these?’”

“This [selling on the street] isn’t anything I ever thought I’d be doing,” Peterson said. “I had one girl buy a pair of heels that she found that matched. One was a size seven and the other was an eight and a half, but she said they fit her just right. Said she’d her feet were different sizes, and she’d always had to buy two pairs if she wanted them to fit, and had been looking for a mismatched pair of shoes like this her whole life.” He laughed, and added, “She even gave me a hug!”

Will Shoes 4 U have more mix and match sales like the one on Hamilton Street Mall? “Maybe!” Reid said, “Although next time I hope we’ll know about it ahead of time!”