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Here's what is replacing Parsons Gifts in Cumming shopping center
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A sign outside the former location of Parsons Gifts on Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, indicates that Shoe Gallery, a Roswell-based discount shoe retail company, is expected to open this spring. - photo by Brian Paglia

The leadership of Shoe Gallery, a discount shoe retail company based in Roswell, was always intrigued with opening a location in Forsyth County.

The company just didn’t expect to replace one of its longtime friendly competitors.

Shoe Gallery is set to open its fourth location in the former spot of Parsons Gifts at the Lakeland Plaza shopping center, which closed in February 2019 after more than 140 years in business in Georgia, including the past 70 in Cumming.

Shoe Gallery expects to open in March or April, according to Will Brooks, the company’s chief financial officer.

Jim and Medora Ware opened Shoe Gallery’s first location in 1992 on Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell. The company has two other locations in Johns Creek and Oklahoma City, Okla.

Shoe Gallery sells hundreds of name-brand shoes at “affordable prices,” from Adidas to Cole Haan to UGG, but it also offers women’s accessories, apparel and jewelry under SG Boutique.

That’s how Shoe Gallery became familiar with Parsons. The leadership of Shoe Gallery knows Cris and Gary Willis, the former Parsons owners well. They were friendly competitors, of sorts, Brooks said.

While Parsons focused on gifts and Shoe Gallery focused on footwear both augmented their stores with apparel and accessories, so they crossed paths often at trade shows.

When Shoe Gallery heard that Parsons was closing, the company seized the opportunity to enter Forsyth County.

“[We] thought that’d always be a nice area to move into if the right space opened up,” Brook said.

Brooks said the company understands the legacy that Parsons left in the community, and it expects Shoe Gallery to feel familiar to local consumers in many ways, from the variety of items to the intimate shopping experience of a family-owned operation. Shoe Gallery will even carry Brighton jewelry, the same brand that Parsons did for so many years.

“We certainly want to work hard and earn the trust of everyone and have the shopping experience everyone has come to love from the Parsons family,” Brooks said. “We’ve got big shoes to fill.”