Herschel's Shoes Reincarnated?!

My special shopping issue of Indianapolis Monthly arrived over the weekend, so of course I immediately began poring over it to see what shops the IM editors recommend. Overall, I'd say there were very few, if any, surprises in there - all the usual haunts you see regularly referenced in this blog were spotlighted. French Pharmacie, Frankey's, Saks, Nordstrom - pretty much what you would expect to see.

However, as I was reading the "Shoes" section, one entry jumped out at me - Tooflee By Herschel's. Yes, Herschel's...as in Herschel Cohen's old place at KatC that continues to occupy a special place in my heart. I still remember some favorite Herschel's purchases - particularly some black Kenneth Cole loafers with a pointy toe and some silver doodads on them, bought as "school shoes" my junior year in high school and worn literally to death. There was also a pair of Kenneth Cole boots I loved, black bottoms with blue sweater tops that scrunched around the ankles. I know, I know, both of those sound pretty dreadful but it was the 80s and they were cool, I promise.

Anyway, needless to say I was absolutely thrilled to see that maybe Herschel's lives again, this time at 86th and Ditch. As I found out about this new store on Saturday late in the day, my only option was to put it on my Sunday "errand" (read: shopping) list. I remembered from my youth that the old Herschel's was always closed on Sundays, but I thought maybe its new incarnation had dropped that rather antiquated practice.

So I trekked out to 86th and Ditch on Sunday, only to find that yes, Tooflee by Herschel's is also closed on Sundays and - yikes! - the store appears to be getting ready to close for good. There are lots of "store closing - everything on sale" signs in the window, so I guess my only hope is to swing by there this Saturday for perhaps one last vestige of the old Herschel's. From my digging around about the store, I've gathered that it's actually Herschel's son who opened it with his wife, and their wares look to be heavier on comfort than style. But we shall see...Maybe I'll add a Collection 94 stop to my list on Saturday and make it a real blast-from-the-past day.