Downtown staple closes after more than 80 years

By Jerri Brouse

For The Daily Item

LEWISBURG — For more than eight decades, customers have walked through the doors at Champion Shoe Sales & Footwear not just to buy shoes, but for of the warmth and familiarity of the people behind the counter that made them feel like family.

Owned and operated by three generations of the Giunta family, the store has been a go-to destination for quality footwear and personal service since 1941. Recently, after more than 80 years in business, Champion Shoe Sales & Repair closed its doors for good.

The decision to close didn’t come easy, according to owner Gina Giunta Fick.

Giunta Fick said the increasing number of people who shop online for shoes make it hard for small businesses to stay afloat. Despite various attempts to draw in new customers, the writing was on the wall, she said.

“What has been happening over the past five years is that people started showrooming us,” Giunta Fick said. “They would come in and utilize my inventory, expertise and time to find the right shoe, and then they would go home and order it online.”

It’s gotten really bad the past three years and there’s little to nothing she can do about it, she said.

“I can’t prevent it,” she said. “We have seen our sales declining due to online shopping.”

Becoming an online business is something Giunta Fick said she never wanted for the store.

“I always wanted us to be a sitand- fit store,” she said. “Anyone can order online but when you come in we fit you, and we have all the knowledge to do it right.”

Though she has a consistent base of regular customers, Giunta Fick said it’s just not enough to keep

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Kyleigh Bilger, left, Cameron and Andrew Fick, Gina Giunta Fick and Angelo and Joann Giunta take a final family photo on the last day of business.

Photo provided

Champion Shoe has been located at 119 S. Second St. in Lewisburg since 1972. Prior to that it was located on Market Street.

Photo provided by Gina Giunta Fick

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“I have overhead,” she explained. “Everything keeps going up in price and I just couldn’t compete anymore. I’d see the numbers drop and know why.”

Giunta Fick said she tried new things but eventually found herself cutting costs so much it wasn’t worth it for her to continue.

The store officially closed at the end of 2024, though Giunta Fick has since held several close-out sales to liquidate inventory.

The Beginning

Giunta Fick said the store’s original owner — her grandfather Salvator Giunta — made his way to the United States via Sicily then Cuba and finally made his way to Pittston before eventually settling in Lewisburg, where he opened the doors to Champion Shoe Sales & Repair in 1941.

The store was originally located on Market Street but moved to its current location at 119 N 2nd St. in 1972.

“When my grandpa started the business, it was one of just five shoe places,” Giunta Fick explained. “He outlasted all of them.”

Champion Shoe was, for a long time, the only shoe repair place for the 60-mile radius.

Sadly, Salvator suffered a stroke early on, but he continued to work with the use of only one arm for a very long time, Giunta Fick explained.

“He was paralyzed on the right side,” she said. “He died eventually of a stroke.”

Her father, Angelo, and his five sisters all worked in the store at some point in their lives, though Angelo and his wife, Joann, took over the business from his father.

“It’s always been a family business,” Giunta Fick said. “It went from my grandfather to my parents to me. There have been multiple employees through the years — some long-term and others shortterm, that have also been like family.”

One of those employees is Kyleigh Bilger.

“She has only been with us for a year, but has been very loyal and has stuck it out to the bitter end,” Giunta Fick said.

“She is just a phenomenal person and has become a family member.”

Giunta Fick credits much of the store’s longevity to her dad’s foresight and dedication to providing the best service possible.

“I think what we did so well, first of all was customer service,” Giunta Fick said. “My dad really instilled in me how important it was to have relationships with customers and make them feel known, to acknowledge their presence in the store, and to remember their names.”

Through his years of owning the business, she said, he always found new ways of getting people in the door.

“He became a UPS shipping center, had local businesses safety-toe accounts,” she continued. “Dad was brilliant with his business sense. He was never satisfied, always looking for another way to be better.”

He had extensive knowledge of shoe repair and paid attention to detail.

“He never turned a project away,” Giunta Fick said. “He made knife sheaths, repaired shoes and pocketbooks, dog collars, belts. Anything that would come through the door, he never said no.”

He also did orthopedic work.

“And it was good work,” she said.

“People would walk in feeling like they would never walk again to walking out on their own.”

Giunta Fick started working at the family business in 2005 and bought the business in 2015.

“Prior to buying the business I managed it, did all the buying,” she said. “My dad was still very active and coming in every day, but was also allowed to take more time away. He started doing more of the sewing and those types of things.”

Giunta hasn’t really done hands-on work for a few years but he is still involved, she said.

“I always have looked to him, and I still go to him, look to him,” she said. “He guided me through buying the business and the contacts, all of it. It wasn’t easy for him because I was making big changes technology-wise, etc, but he let me lead.”

When it came time to call it quits, Giunta Fick said she went and sat down with both parents.

“They could not be more supportive,” she said. “They knew the numbers and they knew I tried everything. I wanted to go out on a high note and timing was perfect actually.”

She also felt supported by the rest of those close to her, including her sons, Andrew and Cameron.

“If one of them had wanted to take over the store it would have been great,” she said. “But they didn’t, which is why we made the decision not to sell the business but to close instead.”

It was a family-owned store and that’s the way the family wanted to leave it.

Giunta said he is proud to celebrate 83 wonderful years of serving his community.

“This milestone is not a time for sadness but a joyous celebration of the craftsmanship, connections, and memories we’ve shared with all of you,” Giunta said. “Thank you for being a part of our incredible journey.”

When she announced the store’s closing, Giunta Fick said she was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love from the community.

When she made the announcement on Facebook in November 2024, the comment section was flooded with well-wishes from friends and customers.

Aimee Gerlinski Baylor wrote “Your family has been a staple in the community … what a loss for Lewisburg. Such great service and kindness.”

Kathleen Clark Lindsay said she was sorry and saddened to hear the news.

“My family, as you know, have been faithful customers for decades,” she commented. Your family has served the community with kindness and care for so long … it’s quite remarkable.”

“I know this must have been a difficult decision with a lot of mixed emotions,” Lorionna Beyers Miller wrote. “You do everything with grace, and I know you not only ran a top notch business providing excellent service but also brought a part of you and your light to everyone who walked into your store, leaving them better than when they arrived.”

Others came in person to share their thoughts and a last hug.

“The gratitude of people, the stories they’d come in and tell,” Giunta Fick said. “Some came in to say goodbye, some came to buy up shoes.”

Some people came in in tears.

“I’ve cried more in the past two months — I had stopped wearing make up,” she joked. “Every day was a cryfest and it was beautiful.”

The last day was a very emotional yet amazing one.

“I had people bringing me champagne and flowers,” she said. “I’m still overwhelmed by the feeling of support of the community.”

When she looks back at the history of Champion Shoe, Giunta Fick said it makes her proud to carry the last name Giunta.

“That’s why it’s still part of my name,” she said. “What my parents have established in this community with the store and just the generous beautiful people they are, I’m so proud for them to be my family. This store was family and everyone we hired became family. I am proud we lasted 83 years. We made it through a pandemic plus five years after, and that was hell.”

As for her future, Giunta Fick said she’s giving herself time to figure that out.

“Right now I’m in the process of closing this chapter and giving myself some time,” she said.

“At 52, I need to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life, and the world is my oyster. I don’t know what it will be, but this just happened. It’s only been a month so I’m giving myself grace to get through it.”

In addition to missing her clients and friends, Giunta Fick said it saddens her that the community will no longer have a “sit and fit” shoe store.

“Sadly I think it will affect the community,” she said.

“You can’t buy shoes anywhere locally anymore other than Leeser’s in Milton. Where are people going to go? We sold quality shoes that people would have for a long time and they could bring them in and get them repaired. Now that we live in a throwaway society, everything ends up in landfills.”

More than that, though, the store served as a gathering place where friends would stop in and socialize.

“We were a staple in the community and I feel like it’s a huge loss,” she said.

This collage shows Salvator Giunta standing in front of his store when it first opened on Market Street in 1941, and a later photo of Angelo Giunta standing in front of the store at its final location, 119 N. Second St.

Photo provided

Gina Giunta Fick and her dad, Angelo Giunta, take a photo together on the final day of business for Champion Shoe.

Photo provided