RICHMOND, Va. -- The time has come for a change of pace for Gary Weiner.
His family this week sold Saxon Shoes, the footwear retailer his parents founded 70 years ago.
The buyer was Manassas-based Comfort One Shoes, which intends to retain the Saxon Shoes brand and keep the Saxon store at Short Pump Town Center intact and open for business as usual.
Weiner, who got his start as a teenager stocking shelves at his parents’ shop, said he was ready to retire and found a kindred spirit in Comfort One, a fellow family-owned shoe company, to carry on Saxon Shoes.
“We’ve known of each other and we respect each other,” Weiner said. “It just made a lot of sense, while our business was on a nice upward trend, to make a deal with who we thought was a great match for our customers, community and staff.”
The deal marked the second time Comfort One had attempted to buy Saxon Shoes. Its first approach was seven years ago, but those talks fizzled out. Comfort One owner Garrett Breton said he approached Weiner again earlier this year and found him receptive to a deal.
