A Baton Rouge children’s shoe shop is outfitting kiddos with shoes for growing feet

It’s spring break in Baton Rouge, but Raegan Bowman is busier than ever. Kiddos and their parents file in and out of her Jefferson Highway shoe shop, Oh Pair, in pursuit of kicks to last through the summer.

Bowman expertly measures petite feet and rings up parents. In the background, short shoppers beg for coins to ride a big mechanical sneaker at the front of the shop.

For Bowman, it’s business as usual. Since 2014, she has stocked an inventory of footwear in a range of children’s sizes while also providing proper foot measuring—two amenities she recognized the Capital Region needed when she opened her store over a decade ago.

“No shoe fits the same,” Bowman says. “There are some styles of shoes that fit certain kids better than others based on the anatomy of the foot. There weren’t really places for that need that had more forward-thinking shoes or more on-trend shoes. A lot of the places had just your old, basic, straightforward, classic shoes. So we wanted to mix both.”

Baton Rouge has a variety of children’s apparel stores that stock shoes, but independent boutiques specializing solely in kid’s shoes are rarer. Bowman draws shoppers to shelves lined with shoes that customers can see, touch and try on today. The back room is stacked with more sizes and colorways. Classic Velcro-fastened Keds and leather saddle shoes share space with trendier lace-up New Balance sneakers and ruby Western boots.

Bowman says customers gravitate toward both ends of the inventory, but she has seen recent shifts.

“I think there’s been a huge movement to casual footwear,” she says. “Maybe it’s just the lifestyle post-pandemic, as well, where it’s just more kind of lax. … Our athletic sales have really increased in the last couple of years.”

Another trend is small versions of adult styles so parents can twin with their minis. Think: itty-bitty pairs of Hunter rain boots or shrunken sneakers resembling Golden Gooses.

While trends come and go, Bowman knows one thing will never go out of style: a pair that fits feet properly. Before credit cards are swiped, customers can expect to have their child’s feet measured. Bowman developed relationships with podiatrists and physical therapists to inform her understanding of tiny feet. Her expertise guides customers to the right pairs and helps her make selections when she goes to market.

Little feet grow fast, but Bowman says she tries to always keep sustainability and durability in mind when building her inventory. After a pair of shoes leaves her shelves, it will go home with a child who will toddle, run and play in it.

“My philosophy, no matter if it’s a tennis shoe or a sandal, is ‘buy less more often,’” she says. “Because you’re not really going to wear all of those styles when they’re super young. They’re going to outgrow them before you truly do get to wear them. I want people to really wear what they walk out of the store with.”

Because 10-plus years of running a shoe store has given Bowman a backseat view as children age—graduating from Velcro to buckles to laces. Her kiddie customers will one day outgrow Oh Pair’s selection entirely. But she says getting to meet and form relationships with families through their sole searching is the soul of her shoe shop.

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This article was originally published in the June 2025 issue of 225 Magazine.