The big sign at Mr. Alan’s Shoes, on Washtenaw Ave., came down in early December and was quickly replaced with a new sign–Snipes.
Mr. Alan’s TV commercials were ubiquitous on Detroit TV in the 1980s and 1990s. The rapid-fire “twenty-nine, or two-for-fifty” slogan was spoken by Michael Guido, who would later become mayor of Dearborn. Its Ann Arbor “Mr. Alan’s Elite” location was smaller than its other stores with a focus on limited-edition and premium styles.
Last year, Deichmann, a multinational shoe retailer based in Germany, acquired Mr. Alan’s, as well as Kicks USA, a similar regional chain based in Philadelphia. Both chains are now outlets of Snipes, a chain founded in Germany in 1998 and acquired by Deichmann in 2011. Snipes stores attract young customers by offering free WiFi and phone-charging stations.
