Pie Footwear Pre-Holiday Sale: 10%-70% off Nov. 26-Dec. 2

The holiday season is just around the corner and whether you are shopping for yourself or for others think "local" this year and support your neighborhood independents.

To help you get started we are having a Shop Local Pre-Holiday Sale. Fine great deals on your favorite brands including Keen, Patagonia, Sanita & Terra Plana. Take an additional 10% off our Sale Rack items.

Sale starts Friday Nov. 26th and goes through Thursday Dec. 2nd

Shop Local: 3/50 Project

As we head into the holiday season think about shopping local and supporting the independent shops that line our neighborhoods that we love. Pie Footwear is a proud supporter of the 3/50 project and hope you too will think & shop local this holiday season and year round. Let's save our brick & mortar independently owned shops!

3 - What three independently owned businesses would you miss if they disappeared? Stop in. Say Hello. Pick-up something that makes you smile. Your purchases are what keep those businesses around.

50 - If half the employed population spent $50 each month in locally owned independent businesses, it would generate more than 42.6 billion in revenue. Imagine the positive impact if 3/4 of the employed population did that.

68 - For every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays here. Spend it online and nothing comes home.

1 - The number of people it take to start a trend - you

Pick 3. Spend 50. Save your local economy.

Crystalyn Kae Bags

I have never been into handbags, I have always been more into my footwear than what I carried my stuff around in. Being a gal that likes clean lines and classic styling, I have found it hard to find the "right" bag that goes with everything and can take the beating that I put my stuff through. Then Crystalyn Kae came into my life with a green Topstitch Hobo bag and now I'm a bag nut!

Crystalyn Kae bags are made in Seattle, and designed with classic lines to be durable and Pacific Northwest weather proof. Though Crystalyn Kae offers bags made from recycled leather (which we love), we carry a wide arrange of her fabulous vegan bags in store. My favorite are the Glazed fabric variety that look like expensive leather, but instead are sturdy, water-resistant and incredibly easy to care for leather alternative. We are also a huge fan of her new upholstery fabric bag line, which is also super durable and easy to care for. Her color pallet ranges from classic black & brown to fun & feisty green, blue, burgundy and grey. There is definitely something for every one. Crystalyn Kae is always on my Christmas, Birthday & Let's Treat Myself list!

Pie Footwear has Crystalyn Kae bags for everyone on your holiday list, including you! Check out clutches, large & small totes, and hobo bags in both glazed & upholstery fabric.

Designer Crystalyn Kae Kokorowski earned her BA degree in Textiles from Washington State University, continuing her studies abroad with an internship at Liberty of London. Returning stateside, Crystalyn began selling her designs in a booth at Seattle's Pike Place Market in 2001. Today, Crystalyn continues to create her bags in small batches which can be purchased on her website, in boutiques across the US and featured in magazines, television and film.

Bunny Huggins Hats

I have always loved the idea of wearing a hat. Living in a wet climate it can be a good accessory to every outfit second only to a fabulous umbrella. Though I have many fabulous umbrellas, hats have always escaped me, never looking right or having the right fit. Then I met Bunny Huggins, was introduced to her Fidel style cap and now I can't wait for hat season.

One of my favorite things about a Bunny Huggins hat is they fit softly on your head, so you never feel like your brain is being squished, it is comfortable to wear all day and sometimes you forget you have it on. It's also pretty awesome that all Bunny Huggins hats are reversible. Yes, you don't just get one uniquely funky and flattering hat, you get two! Your accountant would be so impressed. Since all of Bunny's hats are handmade by Bunny in Portland, from reclaimed & vintage materials, no two hats are alike. I really like the fact that my hat is mine and I won't see another one like it out there. I wish I were more crafty and DIY like Bunny, but since I'm not, I'm glad there are spunky creative people like Bunny out there who are honing the are art of handcrafted goods.

Pie Footwear carries Bunny Huggins hats for all sizes. No head is too big or too small.

Bunny is a local Jill-of-all trades who has a MFA in Metalsmithing and a shop with more tools than you can swing a dead cat at, she's been crafting metal for as long as Sonic Youth has been making records. Her current incarnation is a designer and fabricator of apparel & jewelry for the hip and style conscious person. Above all Bunny is committed to a sustainable lifestyle, using recycled and vintage materials for her crafts.

For more on info on Bunny Huggins check out her website at: www.bunnyhuggins.com

Pie Footwear's Annual Summer Sale

Pie Footwear Summer Sale

20-65% off on Men's & Women's Footwear

July 15-18 ~ Thursday -Sunday

Stop by and get a great deal on all your summer favorites!

Special sidewalk deals.

Also check out Ampersand Vintage sidewalk sale next door

Pie Footwear: Save Our Gulf

Save our Gulf: Shoe Recycling Drive for Oil-Spill Clean-up

Sponsored by Pie Footwear

Help clean up the largest oil spill in US history off the Gulf of Mexico, by dropping off your old shoes at Pie Footwear.

• For every pair of shoes collected Pie Footwear will donated $1 to the National WaterKeeper Alliance for their front line efforts in the Gulf clean up. www.waterkeeper.org
• Drop off a pair of shoes between June 5- June 26 and receive a 5% off your purchase.
• Enter in a raffle for a FREE pair of Keen's for every pair of shoes dropped off.
• Shoes collected will be recycled or sent to Wipers Plus to be ground up and made into oil spill kits for the clean up efforts.

June 5-June 26

Drop off at Pie Footwear

2916 NE Alberta St.

www.piefootwear.net

Pie Footwear Finalist 2010 BEST Awards: BEST Practices for Sustainability (very small company)

This morning Pie Footwear was announced as one of two finalists in the 2010 Portland BEST Awards: Best Practices in Sustainability (very small company). Though we did not win (congrats to Belle Epoque Salon on Mississippi Street!!), it was a tremendous honor to be selected as one of two finalists out of six applicants.

About Pie Footwear & what makes us a BEST Awards Finalist

Pie Footwear is an environmentally and socially conscious footwear boutique for men and women, offering year around in-store shoe recycling programs and a wide variety of vegan friendly shoes. Pie Footwear encourages consumers to indulge responsibly and join them in supporting footwear companies actively working to change industry standards, by innovating sustainable corporate practices, producing products under safe, fair, legal and humane working conditions and offering environmentally conscious footwear collections.

Employees in Portland metro area: 2

Type of business: Retail

Unique features:
• Leading environmental and socially conscious retail shoe store in the Pacific Northwest. Pie is the first concept store to focus solely on environmental and socially conscious footwear. What is unique to the Pie Footwear concept is instead of first judging a shoe or a brand on its offerings in style, Pie evaluates products and brands first on their environmental and social impact.

Energy conservation:
• Switched from halogen track lighting to 100% LED lighting reducing their energy usage by 75%
• Participates in Pacific Power’s Blue Sky Renewable Energy Program

Water efficiency:
• Native plant rain garden installed in the courtyard of their building (Building Owner)

Waste reduction:
• Recycles/re-uses all shoe boxes and paper/cardboard product.
• Purchases from brands that utilize alternative packaging (biodegradable bags instead of shoe boxes)
• Offers year-round shoe recycling program.
• Though repurposing, Pie has eliminated their need for garbage/recycling services. They make one trip a month to a recycling center 2 miles from their business to recycle what could not be repurposed.

Alternative transportation:
• Petitioned for the installation of the bike corral in front of their store
• Maintains a bike at the store for running errands.
• Owners are a one car household who uses public transportation as often as possible to commute to and from the store.

Purchasing practices:
• All products sold at Pie meet one or more of their Sustainable Ingredients Standards, which evaluates each item on its environmental and social benefits at the product level as well as the corporate level.

Encouraging sustainability in others:
• Pie posts information on each brand in store along with their Sustainable Ingredients Standards.
• Pie currently does not sell product online, instead they provide links to their brands and ask their customers outside of Portland to shop for their brands locally.

Promoting social equity:
• Communicates with Footwear Brands on the sustainability of their products.
• Participates in the ASBA advocating for the Alberta Street Business & Neighborhood District

Community service:
• Held Shoe Recycling drive for Soles4Souls.
• Raised money for the Columbia Water Keepers Alliance.
• Donates product and time for local charitable causes.
  

  
  

  About the BEST Awards

  Since 1993, the BEST Awards have been presented annually to Portland area companies demonstrating excellence in business practices that promote social equity, economic growth and environmental benefits.

  The mission of the BEST Awards is to inspire the business community by showcasing innovation and commitment to social, environmental and economic sustainability.

  The BEST Awards recognize businesses with significant and unique achievements in the following categories:

  • BEST Practices for Sustainability: Very Small, Small, Medium and Large companies
  • Sustainable Products or Services
  • Green Building
  • Sustainable Food Systems

  BEST AWARD WINNERS 2010

Vegan Love Sale: February 1-February 28

Vegan Love Sale: February 1-February 28

We greatly appreciate all the support we have received from the Vegan Community this past year and to say thank you we are having a Vegan footwear sale the month of February. Come in during February and get 20% off your Vegan footwear purchase!

Bargain Hunting 101 & Pie Footwear

Come see Pie Footwear at Bargain Hunting 101 and get great deals on Fall 09 product.

Sunday, February 7

Crystal Ballroom & Lola's

12-5 PM

www.bargainhuntingpdx.com

Our store will be closed this Sunday for the sale, so come down and see us at the Crystal Balloon and check out the mother of all indie clearance sales! We will be up in the main ballroom.

Art Reception: Karl W. Kaiser

We are having an Art Reception for Karl W. Kaiser this Thursday (1/28) from 7-9 PM. Come check out his vibrant encaustic art and enjoy some wine and good conversation. If you can't make it Thursday the show will be on display from Jan 28-Feb 21. Remember supporting your local artists is sexy!!

www.karlwkaiser.com

Last Thursday on Alberta: Community meeting with Mayor Adams and Commissioner Fritz!

The ASBA strongly encourages Alberta Street Businesses, neighbors and anyone who enjoys this event to attend the following City sponsored meeting regarding the future of Last Thursday.

______________________________________________________________

Mayor Sam Adams and City Commissioner Amanda Fritz are hosting a community meeting regarding Last Thursday on Alberta!

They are interested in hearing from any and all stakeholders of the event, including businesses from Alberta Street, neighboring residents, vendors, performers, and attendees. The meeting will take place on Monday, February 8th, from 6:00 to 8:00pm, at the Acadian Ballroom at 1829 NE Alberta Street.

We know that there are many, many people who have an opinion about Last Thursday on Alberta-- positive, negative, or neutral. The Mayor and the Commissioner want to hear ALL of these opinions. They are contemplating a number of options for the future of Last Thursday, including continuing it as is, continuing it with substantial changes, or ending the event.

Please spread the word among your neighbors and friends.