Their first love was each other. Then came music. But somehow, it was shoes that would define their lives.
A couple in Bergen county is announcing the closure of their family business after 43 years.
Marty, 78, and Wendy Green, 76, who once sold shoes from the back of a van, are now preparing to close the doors at their last of five brick and mortar locations.
Before they built Just Our Shoes into a comfort‑focused, Garden State staple, their story began in the music world.
The two met November 14, 1964.
Marty, then 13 years old, was playing the piano at a mutual friend’s house when Wendy walked in. They met, and soon after, went on their first date to the movies.
They have been together ever since.
The high school sweethearts went on to form a rock band together called The Germz. Wendy joined the band after attending a few rehearsals.
“She’d come and watch us. She started singing one day and I said, ‘why don’t you sing with us?’” Marty said with a laugh.
The band later made their own music, including their hit song, “No Easy Way Down” in 1967. The lyrics were written by Marty’s cousin, who became a well-known songwriter and was once married to musician Carole King.
Wendy, a dental assistant at the time, and Marty, who was working in the stock room of a store called Shoe Town, decided to start selling shoes on the side at flea markets across the state. It was their hustle for several years.
Married for 58 years, the couple likes to joke about their leap from show to shoe business — after all, it’s only a one‑letter jump.
Just Our Shoes
What started as weekend trips to flea markets grew into a small local chain, a family livelihood and eventually a generational calling.
Marty later bought out the owner of Shoe Town in the late 1980s and the business took off from there.
At the height of the shoe company’s success, there were five locations across North Jersey.
Their son, Matt, 55, recalled helping haul shoes to flea markets as a kid. His sister, Amy, 57, helped too and eventually took over the business when Marty and Wendy retired in 2001.
Matt and his parents said the high-end shop fostered a one-on-one experience with customers. The family said they would try to help people find the best shoe for their foot, while still keeping up with trends.
Beyond the parade of family dogs they brought to work each day, Matt said customers appreciated the personal touch the staff offered.
“It was an experience for customers,” Matt said.
He added that the managers at their two remaining locations have been with the company for years and have built close, lasting relationships with customers.
Managers Lisa King and Maribel Soto “have been the front face of the business for a number of years,” Matt said.
The staff and loyal customers are on a first-name basis with each other. People come specifically to work with the two managers, he added.
Like many businesses, Just Our Shoes struggled after the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020. Sales were struggling without the in-person experience.
“The state of the business changed dramatically after Covid,” Matt said. “Things became really challenging, even online.”
The business survived the pandemic thanks to steady online sales, but they were trying to compete against giants like Zappos and Amazon, whose reach dwarfed anything a family shop could offer.
Marty said he even tried making his own shoe line of high end shoes to generate revenue.
But now, modern retail pressures are forcing an ending they hoped would never come.
The final two locations of Just Our Shoes are shutting down for good.
The main location in Ridgewood will close within the next few months. The Westwood store has already closed its doors.
“We’re very sad,” said Marty. “What I’m going to miss the most is the interaction between myself or any of us and the customer. Our customers were our friends. They were family.”
The goal is to sell any remaining shoes in their inventory.
“We’re spending the time winding down the business, saying goodbye to a lot of our customers who we’ve literally known for decades,” Matt said.
Since the store opened in 1983, he said, his family grew alongside their community, navigating changes in the retail industry together.
“Retail has changed dramatically, and while we’ve worked hard to evolve with it, the shift to online shopping and broader market pressures ultimately made it difficult to continue in the same way,” Matt said. “More than anything, we’re deeply grateful.”
For Marty and Wendy, their next chapter of life will be spent continuing to enjoy their retirement, despite closing such a major chapter of their lives.
“Running business shapes your days — the decisions, the responsibilities, the constant motion,“ Wendy said, reflecting on her time as a business owner.
“When that stops, there’s a real adjustment,” she said. “It doesn’t mean loss of purpose; it means redefining what your days look like and what you want them to look like.”
Marty says retirement, to him, will be about “investing in comfort, in connection, in the things that make your environment feel intentional and yours.”
“I guess that’s what we’ve worked and strived for,” Marty said.
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