For nearly 20 years, kids in Morningside Heights could get fitted for their shoes at The Shoe Tree. But outside is a sign to let customers know they will be closing shop.

“That is a hard thing to give up," said Karen Dixon, who co-owns the store. "That’s a hard thing to give up.”

What You Need To Know

  • The Shoe Tree will close its doors in June after 18 years in business

  • The store is co-owned by Karen Dixon and Essam Moussa

  • Dixon also is a full-time member of the Metropolitan Opera

  • The pair say declining traffic for years since the pandemic has made it too hard to stay open

She has owned the store for 18 years with her husband, Essam.

“We’ve been getting messages that their children took their first step in our store and now they’re going to college,” she said.

Last year, NY1 profiled Dixon, whose day job is at the store but is also a full-time member of the chorus at the Metropolitan Opera.

While the work at the opera may be pitch perfect, problems at The Shoe Tree have been going on for years.

“The past couple of years is where the sales have really declined," she said. "Since [COVID-19] it has really been going down.”

Their biggest competition: our phones, where buying shoes with a tap of a finger has become more popular, said Dixon.

“Sadly, we have customers, we even have customers shop online in the store while they’re getting their feet fit,” she said.

NY1 even heard a customer discuss buying a pair of shoes online, while in the store.

A quick look online and the closest shoe stores for kids on the west side: a Kids Foot Locker in Harlem and a Harrys Shoes on the Upper West Side.

“We tried to stay in business as long as we could for that reason,” said Dixon.

It’s a problem, though, not just in Manhattan.

“The independent retail shoe channel is under duress,” said Matt Priest, the CEO of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, a trade organization representing about 95% of businesses that sell shoes.

He said big box stores carrying shoes and online shopping leave mom-and-pop store owners tied in financial knots.

“So the margins for boutique store who’s focused on the children’s footwear industry, they’re having less opportunity to make profit because the duty rates on kids shoes tends to be higher,” said Priest.

Dixon will keep performing at the Metropolitan Opera, but Essam will take some time to figure out what’s next, as they work as always, putting one foot in front of the other.