Being Riggio
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Betty Riggio of Riggio¹s Shoe Box is the First Lady of Main Street in downtown Du Quoin whose unbridled sense of fair play and stinging honesty puts her on America¹s endangered species list.
She's not bashful about her age and wears it as a red badge of courage. At
81, she's not afraid to tell you "that¹s not your color", yet painstakingly takes the time to find the right color because she loves her customers. Some get nervous when she's not around--and it's rare when she's not.
Son Pete--owner of Riggio's Shoe Box-- just shakes his head and says, "She's
always been that way."
"She's a salesman--the best I've ever seen," says Pete, 58, who pauses to remember that his father, Vito, died at that age years ago. He doesn't dwell on the loss and he's grateful to have seen Riggio's Shoebox's 30th anniversary come and go during June. "I don't think we'll be around to see the next 30," he laughs.
You never know.
The family has the mettle to have made it through Prohibition, the Great Depression, the decline and disappearance of coal mining and its $50,000 and $60,000 incomes that fed a once-vibrant downtown Du Quoin. The store is a direct descendant of the era when moms marched their kids down to B & B Shoe Store for a new pair of PF Flyers just before the school and the plastic Red Goose Shoes golden egg you usually talked Tilley Bertani out of. Gordon Rude's shoe store--now Riggio's Shoebox--had the familiar Polly Parrot hanging in its window for years. "I wish that I had saved it," said Pete.
But, Abe Wyman's 1901 National cash register that still greets customers at the front door is a brass and oak reminder of what quality looks like. "It was upstairs above Wyman's dress shop and we broke the threshold getting it down here," said Pete. It's one of the few things still in the store that was American-made.
"About 90 percent of everything is an import," said Riggio.
"When Cyril Stein's shoe store was open, we'd take a pair of shoes over there that were glued together and he would tell me, "Don¹t bring that imported '@#&%' over here anymore." He knew what quality looked like. A good pair of Red Wing leather work boots or a pair of pristine Florsheim high heels? Now that¹s a cobbler's playground.
The Riggios have a history of commitment to downtown Du Quoin, to family and certainly to their beloved Sacred Heart Catholic Church. "Mom was a convert and dad didn't know until he saw the car parked out in front of the rectory." He added, "We have a deep faith. Every time we got a new priest we got more and more involved." Pete has served in almost every role at the church. He chaired the committee that completely renovated Du Quoin's signature church several years ago. "I couldn't do it if mother weren't here at the store," he says. "As long as I can remember mom has been there," he said.
"We've never been a flamboyant family. We kept to ourselves and everyone worked hard. Mom is the last of the previous generation," he said.
Like so much of Du Quoin, the Riggios are part of the wonderful patchwork of turn-of-the-century immigrants who came to Du Quoin. "One grandparent was from Italy. One was from Sicily," he said. "They came to St. Louis. Some were in coal mining. We huddled as a family and did whatever it took," he said.
Pete said his family saw a need for a west side grocery years ago and opened Riggio's Grocery Since 1933 on Hickory Street. That grocery building was recently torn down. The family also owned a very prosperous beer distributorship. Riggio & Son distributed Stag and Pabst throughout the region, another page of a bygone era of family-owned companies.
Well-educated, polished and cut from propriety, Pete chose his own path. "I guess I wanted my own niche," he said. He worked for the very popular Sohn's Men's Store in Carbondale and decided that he wanted to be his own businessman. He favored menswear over the shoe business, but when Gordon Rude decided to retire 31 years ago "the offer was too good to pass up." The purchase of the store was put together over a month's time and Pete continued merchandising some of the finest names in footwear including Naturalizer and Florsheim.
The tradition carried down from when the store was Leslie's Shoes, then Rude's Shoe Store, and now Riggio's.
The smell of fresh leather pulled from boxes neatly packaged with tissue
made women feel like a queen and their husbands were introduced to high
quality fashion.
"We decided to offer quality," he said. "Quality is never cheap."
Only a handful of shoes--SAS and New Balance to name two of the brands--are
still made in the United States.
The store next door was Wyman's for many years, then became part of the large Hill's for the Lady and Hill's for the Man fashion houses. "We leased the ladies store for a year, then purchased it," he said.
Pete's mother had never intended to be involved in the store at all. In fact, she was a secretary for the Du Quoin Packing Co., another success story from a family of immigrants. But, one day there was a "Moonlight Madness" sale. "People were everywhere and when mom passed the store she came in to see what had happened. She's never gotten out," he said. "She's great with older people and some call to make sure she's here."
"I had one lady who called me all the way from Alabama who said she was coming up here and wanted to make sure I was around. I told her, "no, you wanted to know if I was dead," Betty smiles. Well, let's don¹t beat around the bush.
Visitors from out of town love the Old World service. They love the shoes. They love the caring. But, Betty gets openly frustrated about the town's lack of commitment to itself. Most of the store's shoppers are from out of town. They embrace what we have taken for granted.
Pete has not only served his church, but was very active in the work of the old Retail Merchant's Association, working alongside Dick Peters and Charles Halfacre and Charles Petry to make downtown Du Quoin a great place to shop. He applauds the work of Pam Pereira, executive director of Main Street, for her energy in restoring downtown Du Quoin as the focal point of the community.
As for downtown Du Quoin's first lady, don't let her fool you into thinking she's that Steel Magnolia. This great lady has a heart of gold, and you need to pick up some valuable lessons of life from her while you have the chance. She's an upscale, classy lady who has a tremendous sense of family, church and community. And Du Quoin owes this mother and son a deep debt of gratitude for what they are and what they continue to be.
Riggio's Shoe Box is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (or later) during the
week and 9:30 p.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
The store just celebrated its 30th anniversary, and the community can only
hope for many happy returns during the coming years.