By Clyde Noel

Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier

Town Crier Correspondent

Award-winning shoemaker moves business to Foothill Plaza

Business Profile

For the past 26 years Rick Woodland has been repairing, building and customizing shoes for patients requiring a protective support or correction in their footwear.

Woodland calls himself a “foot pharmacist” because he works with doctors, nurses, therapists and other medical professionals to meet the patient’s footcare and footwear needs. In consulting with physicians, Woodland makes sure all options are explored for his patients.

Woodland operated a shop in Cupertino at Stevens Creek Boulevard and Blaney Avenue for 24 years. In May, he and other tenants in the shopping center were given 30 days to find another location by the developer who bought the center for redevelopment.

“I’ve been wanting to expand and the timing was good because I found a great place here in Los Altos,” Woodland said. “The extra square footage will allow me to expand my services and bring in other lines.”

Woodland is opening Rick’s Shoe Repair, also called Rx Shoes Etc., starting out with Xtra Depth Shoes from P. W. Minor & Sons. He said the shoes are ideal for patients with arthritis, diabetes or orthopedic conditions affecting the foot.

In 1994, Woodland was awarded the Grand Silver Cup for building and repairing shoes after his work was judged best in the industry.

“I found other people in the area who had won shoe awards and I observed how they were made,” Woodland said. “I drove two and a half hours with my family to see a man who won the Western Silver Cup and I learned from him..”

The award stresses devotion to the industry and a long tradition of family craftsmanship.

“One of the judges told me that I was no longer a shoe repairman, Woodland said. “He said you are now a shoe recrafter.”

Woodland cannot, and does not, diagnose foot conditions, and only works from a doctor’s prescription. But as a pedorthist, he can help choose the right pair of shoes and make sure there is a proper shoe fit.

The board-certified training he has received includes work in biomechanics, gait analysis/patho mechanics, kinesiology, pathology and diagnostic-imaging techniques.

Once the move to Los Altos is complete, Woodland will have the proper equipment to repair the soles and heels of almost any shoe manufactured. Most of the repair on dress boots and shoes are leather soles and rubber heels, but he said he can also do some of the polymer composition on leisure shoes.

Woodland also intends to make cowboy boots which is considered a unique art form among shoemakers.

“Once I repair a pair of boots, the owner usually comes back with three or four other pairs they want done,” Woodland said. “That’s when I know I’m doing a good job for my customers.”

Rick’s Shoe Repair (RX Shoes Etc.) is located at 2310 Homestead Road, in Foothill Plaza, Los Altos. For more information, call (408) 617-0066.