Francesco Arciuolo opened his shoe store on Naugatuck Avenue in Milford’s Walnut Beach neighborhood in 1921. Nearly a century later, Arciuolo’s is now in its fourth generation of family ownership. Matt Arciuolo Jr. speaks about operating a century-old family business in an era dominated by online retail giants — and why customer service has always […]
Francesco Arciuolo opened his shoe store on Naugatuck Avenue in Milford’s Walnut Beach neighborhood in 1921. Nearly a century later, Arciuolo’s is now in its fourth generation of family ownership. Matt Arciuolo Jr. speaks about operating a century-old family business in an era dominated by online retail giants — and why customer service has always been and remains the name of the game.
At age 30, how does it feel to be a part of a century-old family legacy?
I started working here in 2004 when I was freshman in high school at Notre Dame of West Haven. Even before that, I was sweeping and vacuuming from the time I was a kid. Most kids want to be a fireman or an astronaut. But I always wanted to do what my dad did because I saw what an impact he was making on the people around him. We would go to a grocery store and people would come up to him and talk about how they are finally walking pain-free and were so grateful. I could always see how much people respected him.
How did you decide to follow in the family footsteps, so to speak?
After graduating from Notre Dame in 2008, I went to Western Connecticut State University and got a degree in small-business management. I focused all of my studies on ways to specifically benefit our business. Post-grad I got certified as a pedorthist with the Eneslow Pedorthic Institute in 2012 taking a month-long intensive course and then completing 1,000 clinical hours.
Today a prosperous professional might own 40 pairs of shoes. Fifty years ago that number was maybe ten. Are shoes lower-quality and more disposable now?
There’s something to be said for a high-quality, durable product. All shoes we sell, we test indoors for longevity. If any shoes do not last their projected lifespan, we are happy to swap out and replace them. A cheap shirt never hurt anybody. But you have to walk on these things — all day, every day.
How have you transitioned from mom-and-pop store to an innovator specializing in custom orthotics?
Forty percent of our business is the custom orthotics we create for people in pain or athletes who want to perform better. My dad founded Footstar Orthotics specializing in custom orthotics inserts for men, women and children. (Footstar was selected to provide the orthotics for the U.S. Olympic bobsled and skeleton teams, both of which earned medals wearing Footstar Orthotics products.) He also created VKTRY Gear, in 2016, patenting a carbon-fiber insole that is currently used by more than 200 pro and college teams. People don’t expect a little mom-and-pop shop to be on the cutting edge of orthotics manufacturing, but we are.
