'But you don't eat shoes'

Couple opens Vegan footwear store in Denver

By James B. Meadow

Published November 17, 2007 at 12:05 a.m.

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Photo by Javier Manzano © The Rocky

Lisa Young, 34, temporarily put her career as a doctor on hold in order to open a vegan shoe store called Ahimsa with her husband, Phil Young. Ahimsa means noninjury in Sanskrit, and the store doesn't sell anything made from animals.

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From Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus to hemp, from Acinetobacter baumannii to recycled tires - if you're looking for the most unlikely career shift you've ever heard of, then Lisa Young figures to be, well, a shoe-in.

Which is to say that beginning today at 11 a.m., Young - make that Doctor Young - and her husband, Phil, will open the doors of Ahimsa, the humble but spunky shoe store they claim is the only one in Colorado to offer an inventory that is 100 percent vegan.

As in none of their wares - not the shoes or the glue in the shoes, not the wallets, scarves, hats, belts, shoulder bags, not even the shoe polish - that sit on the shelves - is made from animals.

Sure, Dr. Young, an epidemiologist, admits she has run into some misconceptions about her store, allowing, "People look at you funny; they say, 'But you don't eat shoes.' " Still, insists Young, 34, there's a market out there to heed the clarion call of vegan footwear.

"It's difficult to find a quality nonleather shoe, or any shoe, where the glues don't have animal products in them," she says, pointing to her own struggles to find comfortable animal-free shoes when she and Phil, 36, moved here in 2004. True, vegan shoes can be accessed on Internet sites - including, ahem, ahimsafootwear.com - but "that takes some of the fun out of shoe shopping, doesn't it?"

Not only does Ahimsa (it means "noninjury" in Sanskrit and is one of the tenets of Buddhism) aim to inject fun into vegan shoe shopping, it also intends to offer its customers a palette of candidates from Europe, Canada and the U.S. After reciting labels like Novacas, Klogs, John Fluevog, Ethical Wares and Ragazzi, and pointing out styles that stretch from purple boots to blue pumps to brown Mary Janes to some black unisex numbers that are the spitting image of Doc Martens, Lisa Young smiles and says, "Yeah, you could say we have some bitchin' shoes."

But not itchin' shoes.

"We know some people probably think vegan shoes are uncomfortable and made of this 'hemp and jute crunchy stuff,' " says Phil Young, "but it's not true."

Yes, some of the vegan shoes have an unmistakable polyurethane ethos to them. And, yes, they feel lighter than standard shoes. Still, the faux suede and leather-like look and feel of many make it difficult to differentiate them from fauna-based footwear.

Then again, wrap your waist with one of the Splaff belts and you know you're not in Leather Land. The belts are made from recycled tires and, well, let's just say if one ever tears, you might have to fight the urge to call AAA.

While the knowledge that by buying at Ahimsa they are practicing ahimsa may comfort vegans, the Youngs are firm in their belief that their inventory and prices (shoes range from $45 to $180, hemp scarves run $30, belts from $13 to $55 and a Go Vegan! bumper sticker will set you back $2) will help dispel the notion that, as Lisa says, "vegan shoes can't possibly be fashionable."

That better be the case because the husband and wife team are counting on expanding their customer base beyond fellow vegans. Sure, Lisa has been a vegetarian since 2000, and Phil saw the light this past September ("I went cold tofurkey"), but they'll welcome anybody into the shop. Or, as Phil laughs, "We don't have a leather detector on the door. We welcome anybody's feet."

Besides, you don't have to be vegan to be eco-conscious. As Phil says, "Vegan is 'green.' It takes less energy to produce a product not using animal sources."

Green is easy to understand. But what about ahimsa? Let's face it, that's not a term found in everybody's mental glossary.

But in response to the concern of some friends that the name of the store might be a tad esoteric, Phil says, "Uh, what about Qdoba and Chipotle? Those names don't exactly roll off the tongue."

Forget tongues, it was the Youngs' jaws that were dropping last February. While visiting New York City, they went into a vegan shoe store.

"The place was packed!" Phil recalls.

He also recalls that was when the light bulb that had been hovering over his and Lisa's heads went incandescent.

"We had been thinking about opening a store for a while, but after New York, we were convinced there was a market for one here."

Their modest shop - the showroom is 400 square feet - sits at the confluence of Marion Street, Park Avenue and 17th Avenue. It isn't the easiest place to find, but the Youngs are hoping word-of-mouth will make Ahimsa a destination shoe shop.

Thanks to some cost-conscious decorating - much of the furniture is used stuff from Craigslist - Ahimsa won't need huge volume to break even. Four pairs a day will keep the store from red ink, says Lisa, adding with a smile, "But that won't feed us."

Naturally, she's hoping to make a bigger footprint on the shoe scene. So are friends and family who have been positive.

"Our families and friends were supportive," says Lisa. "They might have thought we were out of our minds, but they didn't say it. I mean, this is a pretty unusual step in our career paths."

She pauses, then adds. "But,you know, I'm still a doctor. I can always go back to medicine."

True, but for now, she's hoping to gain a foothold in the footwear business. Call it a case of physician, heel thyself.

What is a vegan?

"A vegan (pronounced VEE-gun) is someone who, for various reasons, chooses to avoid using or consuming animal products. While vegetarians choose not to use flesh foods, vegans also avoid dairy and eggs, as well as fur, leather, wool, down and cosmetics or chemical products tested on animals."

About the store

*Ahimsa Footwear, 1668 Marion St.

*Phone: 303-860-8344

*Hours: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. everyday but Tuesday, when it's closed.

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