EFFINGHAM — Nike's way of getting products to smaller, independent stores has prompted a local athletic shop to close its doors after 27 years in Effingham.

Michael J. Borries, owner of Athlete's Shoe Inc., has been doing business under the patented name Prime Sole since 1990. Two months ago he made the decision to close up shop.

“Nike wants to deal with the big vendors who have lots of stores, instead of the hassle of the little guys,” said Borries.

Two years ago, he shuttered the doors on his Fairview Heights location. He said the decision came after Nike "changed its distribution strategy," making it more difficult to get the high-end Nike athletic shoes in his independent store.

“Now those shoes only go to city boutique stores and big chain stores,” he said Thursday.

During his years in business, he could see the demand — and prevalence of larger feet — so he started offering larger athletic shoe sizes for men and women.

He said the sports store is known across the region and beyond for its large and wide-size athletic shoes. Prime Sole carries 15 to 20 different varieties of shoes up to men's size 18 and women's size 12.

“When we started, size 13 was big,” said Borries. “We'd only carry a few of those in 13. Now pretty much everything we stock would include up to at least size 13, but some also in sizes 14, 15 and 16.”

Shopper Dawn Elder of Sullivan said she's been coming to the Effingham store for about five years. While it was a bit early for back-to-school shopping, after seeing the notice the store was closing on Facebook, she wanted to take advantage of the sales.

“I plan on being open through the summer, but would like to have everything done by Oct. 1,” said Borries.

The current location opened in 1997 when Borries built the 12,000-square-foot building. This is the fourth location in Effingham. He currently employs 10 part-time and five full-time workers.

“My experience here has been good,” said Colton Bushue, 19, who has worked at Prime Sole for two years.

Alexis Stout, 17, said Prime Sole was her first job and added that it's unfortunate the store is closing soon.

“It's pretty fun here most of the time,” said Stout. “It's been a good experience for my first job.”

Manager Dustin Royer was working on April 18 when two Omaha men stole goods from the store then fired a shot in his direction, as he tried to get their license plate information. No one was injured.

“That was the first – and last – time anything like that happened,” said Royer. “But, I was back here the next day, business as usual.”

Borries said the armed robbery incident had nothing to do with the closure. They got away with about $300 in merchandise, he estimated.

The pair were on an alleged spree that ended April 21 in Higginsville, Missouri, in a town about 40 miles east of Kansas City, just off Interstate 70.

Borries said he hasn't determined exactly what's next for him. He's still considering leasing the building, finding another use for the building or maybe retirement.

“We've had a good run over the years,” said Borries. “I'm sure there's been somebody from every state across the United States in here. I know I've had people in here from England, Australia, Germany and New Zealand, Japan and other countries.”

Contact Dawn Schabbing at dawn.schabbing@effinghamdailynews.com or 217-347-7151, ext. 138

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