Most independent retailers think a cyberattack won’t happen to them — until it does. In this episode, Pete Mohr sits down with Mike Schuler, fourth-generation owner of Schuler Shoes, a family-owned footwear retailer with 10 stores across the Minneapolis area and 137 years in business, to talk through the ransomware attack that hit his stores over a Memorial Day weekend — while Mike himself was on vacation.

Mike walks through the first 24 hours: the call from his IT team, the decision (on his insurance provider’s advice) to shut the internet off entirely, keeping stores selling on backup card readers and phone hotspots, and the two-month process of getting the data back. He shares what the post-attack review found — a remote-access tool left over from the pandemic that had become a security hole — and the changes that followed: modern endpoint detection, multi-factor authentication, a password manager, and off-site backups. Pete shares his own parallel story, a 2018 ransomware attack on Shoe Topia. Both retailers land on the same bottom line: cyber insurance made the difference, and this wasn’t really about computers — it was about protecting the business.

👤 ABOUT GUEST — MIKE SCHULER
Mike Schuler is the fourth-generation owner of Schuler Shoes, a family-owned footwear retailer with 10 stores across the Minneapolis, Minnesota area, in business for 137 years. Following a 2026 ransomware attack, Mike led a significant overhaul of the company’s cybersecurity practices — including cyber liability insurance, modern endpoint detection, multi-factor authentication, and a company-wide password manager.

🔗 Connect with Mike Schuler & Schuler Shoes:
Website: https://www.schulershoes.com

👤 ABOUT PETE
Pete Mohr is a speaker, coach, podcaster, and author, and co-owner of Shoe Topia. He hosts The Footwear Retailer Podcast, sponsored by the NSRA (National Association of Shoe Retailers), where he talks with independent footwear retailers about the strategies, technology, and mindset shifts driving their businesses.

🔗 Connect with Pete Mohr:
Website: simplifyingentrepreneurship.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/petemohr
Podcast: thefootwearretailer.com

This episode of The Footwear Retailer is proudly sponsored by the National Shoe Retailers Association.

NSRA supports independent footwear retailers with tools, connections, education, and resources to help you run a stronger business.

To learn more about the benefits of membership or to sign up, visit:
https://www.nsra.org/page/benefits

Pete Mohr is a longtime footwear retailer, business coach, and owner of two Shoetopia stores in Ontario, Canada, helping business owners build stronger companies that support a better life.

To learn more about Pete's programs and coaching or to book a free initial chat about your business goals, visit:
https://pete-mohr.com/

There’s a lot of talk about AI right now — some retailers are excited, some are nervous. In this episode, Pete Mohr sits down with Daniel Ungar, president of Mar-Lou Shoes, a family-owned footwear store in Lyndhurst, Ohio founded by his parents in 1958, to move past the hype and look at how one real footwear retailer is actually using AI day to day.

Dan walks through rebuilding his open-to-buy buying system with ChatGPT ahead of the Spring/Summer 2027 market in Atlanta, running brand-level trend analysis, generating customer heat maps, training his longtime buyer Lana and marketing director Liz to use AI themselves, and even using it to revise Mar-Lou’s employee manual. Pete shares his own parallel example from Shoe Topia — having Claude audit 72 brand logos in his Google Drive overnight. Both share the same bottom line: AI hasn’t replaced their judgment, it’s multiplied it — and for the first time, independent retailers have the horsepower to compete with the big chains.

👤 ABOUT GUEST — DANIEL UNGAR

Daniel “Dan” Ungar is the president of Mar-Lou Shoes, a third-generation, family-owned footwear retailer in Lyndhurst, Ohio (Cleveland). His parents founded Mar-Lou in 1958 after buying a closeout store in Cleveland’s Old Arcade building, focused on hard-to-find women’s sizes and widths. Dan joined the business full-time in 1989; the company has since consolidated to one 9,000-square-foot store on Cleveland’s east side, added men’s footwear, and run on the Rick’s retail system since 1994. Today Dan uses ChatGPT and Claude across buying, marketing, and operations, alongside his team members Lana (buyer, 30+ years) and Liz (director of marketing).

👤 ABOUT PETE

Pete Mohr is a speaker, coach, podcaster, and author, and co-owner of Shoetopia. He hosts The Footwear Retailer Podcast, sponsored by the NSRA (National Association of Shoe Retailers), where he talks with independent footwear retailers about the strategies, technology, and mindset shifts driving their businesses.

This episode of The Footwear Retailer is proudly sponsored by the National Shoe Retailers Association.

NSRA supports independent footwear retailers with tools, connections, education, and resources to help you run a stronger business.

To learn more about the benefits of membership or to sign up, visit:
https://www.nsra.org/page/benefits

Pete Mohr is a longtime footwear retailer, business coach, and owner of two Shoetopia stores in Ontario, Canada, helping business owners build stronger companies that support a better life.

To learn more about Pete's programs and coaching or to book a free initial chat about your business goals, visit:
https://pete-mohr.com/

Before there was Bosco & Co., there was a newly developed pillow boot — along with a chance meeting in Italy that changed the course of Canadian footwear.

Pete Mohr sits down with Jim Bosco, Founder and President of Bosco & Co., in his Burlington, Ontario showroom for a conversation spanning more than 55 years in the footwear business.

Jim's path into the industry wasn't a straight line. He considered joining the Navy after his time in the Sea Cadets before instead joining the Bata Shoe Company as a management trainee — a decision that led to a factory training program in Batawa, Ontario and years spent traveling the world as an assistant to Bata chairman Tom Bata.

In 1968, Jim joined the Saddlebar family's Susan Shoes, where a chance meeting with Bass Shoe Company founder George Bass in Florence, Italy eventually led to the Cougar Pillow Boot — a design inspired by a boot Bass built for aviator Charles Lindbergh. Paired with an unforgettable ad campaign built around a mascot called “The Coug,” Cougar became one of the most recognizable names in Canadian footwear.

In 1979, Jim and his sons Kevin and Dean set out on their own, founding Bosco & Co. and building relationships with factories in Portugal that continue to this day. Bosco & Co. has been the Canadian distributor for Fly London for 47 years, and the business is now welcoming its third generation: Jim's grandson James.

You'll hear about:
→ The Bata Shoe Company's factory training program and what it taught Jim about manufacturing
→ The chance café meeting in Florence that led to the Cougar Pillow Boot
→ How a boot built for Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight inspired the design
→ The story behind “The Coug” and Cougar's iconic ad campaign
→ Why Jim and his sons started Bosco & Co. in Portugal in 1979
→ 47 years as Fly London's Canadian distributor
→ What it took to build a showroom and a sales team that has stayed for decades
→ Bringing a third generation, grandson James, into the business

“Life will not always be easy. We will face adversity a number of times. What matters most, however, is how you respond to these adversities.” — Jim Bosco

ABOUT JIM BOSCO
Jim Bosco is the Founder and President of Bosco & Co., a family-run footwear company based in Burlington, Ontario. His career began with the Bata Shoe Company, where he trained in retail and manufacturing at the company's factory in Batawa, Ontario, and later traveled the world as an assistant to Bata chairman Tom Bata. In 1968, Jim joined the Saddlebar family's Susan Shoes, where he helped develop the Cougar boot line and its iconic advertising campaign. In 1979, Jim founded Bosco & Co. with his sons Kevin and Dean, building factory relationships in Portugal that continue today. Bosco & Co. is the longtime Canadian distributor for Fly London, and Jim's grandson James now represents the company's third generation.

CONNECT WITH BOSCO & CO.
Toll-free: 905-498-1754
Direct: 905-467-2808
Website: https://ca.bosandco.com/

ABOUT PETE MOHR
Pete Mohr is an independent footwear retailer, business coach and host of The Footwear Retailer Podcast. Through conversations with retailers, brands and industry experts, Pete helps independent business owners build stronger businesses while creating more freedom in their lives.

This episode of The Footwear Retailer is proudly sponsored by the National Shoe Retailers Association.

NSRA supports independent footwear retailers with tools, connections, education, and resources to help you run a stronger business.

To learn more about the benefits of membership or to sign up, visit:
https://www.nsra.org/page/benefits

Pete Mohr is a longtime footwear retailer, business coach, and owner of two Shoetopia stores in Ontario, Canada, helping business owners build stronger companies that support a better life.

To learn more about Pete's programs and coaching or to book a free initial chat about your business goals, visit:
https://pete-mohr.com/