JOE KNOWS BOOTS—touts the front page of the Plum Bottom flier featuring owner Joe Correale as a child, perched on porch steps, grasping a stick and sporting a sailor’s cap.
An intimidating-looking kid, his stern look seems to say, “I mean business.” If I could make a bet, I’d wager he was referred to as a “handful.” Fast-forward 60-plus years, and you can still see the same complex expression comprised of grit and determination. And yes, he’s still a “handful,” and he still means business.
Plum Bottom, located at the Shoppes at Susquehanna in Harrisburg, features an extensive selection of handbags, shoes and accessories, and owner Correale tells how he managed to succeed all these years while staying abreast of the latest trends.
He bounces back and forth between shoptalk, seriousness, animation, witticisms and the occasional threat. “I can see you’re not into shoes,” he says, warily eyeing my comfy suede boots. Then he cracks, “Too bad we don’t sell jewelry, she’d be an easy mark.”
The minute I started wondering if I should be offended, he heads off in a different direction, eliciting the inevitable laugh. I eventually give up trying to figure out how to feel and just enjoy the “Joe Show” with resigned bemusement as he gives me a summation of his life in the shoe business.
Starting at an early age, Correale helped his father run a shoe department in a large store, stocking shelves, sweeping floors and trimming windows. After graduating high school, he began working in a department store called Orr’s in Bethlehem. “It was huge at the time,” he said. As the years went by, he continued to move up in the shoe world, aided by his knowledge of the industry and his network, including his mentor, Mort Peskin, whom he met through a contact. Peskin owned a shoe store in Cumberland, Md., and Correale paired up with him.
“Peskin opened doors for me, paid my dues to the country club, took me to shoe shows in his private plane. He knew I had a talent for selling and the gift of gab. I’m getting better by the way, so you should come back next week,” he jokes.
Correale worked with Peskin for seven years before agreeing to meet Isaac Mishkin, the owner of The Plum in Harrisburg. “It was another opportunity to move closer to my family,” said Correale, who is from McAdoo and whose in-laws at the time were from Palmyra. The two partnered together, opening a store in Lancaster, but eventually they parted ways to pursue their separate visions.
Correale opened Plum Bottom at the Camp Hill Mall, where he operated the store from 1993 to 2004 before moving to his current digs.
His business savvy and infectious personality have earned him a loyal customer base. Tama from Halifax said, “I have been patronizing Joe’s businesses since 1981, and I have stayed a tried-and-true customer.”
When Correale moved to the Camp Hill Mall, she was disappointed at the driving distance. So, when she heard of the move to the Shoppes at Susquehanna, she was delighted to have her favorite store back on the East Shore. “You can’t beat the selection,” she said.
Correale said he’s grateful to Linda, a customer from Harrisburg, who wrote to the Shoppes when she discovered there was a vacancy there. “The developers came into my store in Camp Hill and found me,” said Joe, incredulously.
When asked about his famously extensive selection, Joe ticks off an endless list of designers: “We have Pikolino, Van Eli, J.Renee, Beautifeel, Naot, John Joseph… oh my God, I’m getting high now,” he says, pausing for a second before continuing—“don’t forget the handbags. We carry Pietro Allesandro and Due Fratelli, along with scarves, gloves, socks, a men’s section and mimosas on Saturday,” he said.
Everything about Correale is a testament to his love for the business—including his two daughters, whom he named after footwear—Carla Caressa and Nina. “If I had a boy, I’d have named him ‘Boots’ or ‘Rubbers,’” he quips.
Although he admires many styles, loafers aren’t among them. He credits his hard-working staff for his success. Harrisburg resident Andrea Mason, who has worked with Correale since 2005, calls him “a perfectionist with vision and a very good trainer.” He butts in before she finishes her sentence, yelling, “Every location I’ve been at, I’ve always had the best help EVER!”
Mason deftly manages to shoehorn in a quick introduction to a book of “Joe-isms” that the staff created for their boss. The hardcover book is replete with pictures of the shoe-biz star in various “states of Joe,” from reclining to fraternizing with females, interspersed with some of his oft-repeated phrases, including, “I’m a nice guy on Tuesday”; “I have more money than brains”; and “Thank God I’m not dead.”
Correale wanders outside at the end of the interview to sit on a bench and take a minute to reflect as I begin to make my exit, but not before surreptitiously instructing his staff to try to pair me up with more stylish footwear.
“This is my life,” he says, “along with two hairpieces and three wives, or a combination, I forget.” As I make my way to the car, he yells after me, “Hey, when are you getting that article done?”
As his staff says, “You’ll come for the collection and stay for the experience”—and part of that experience is owner Joe Correale.
Plum Bottom
Shoppes at Susquehanna Marketplace
2619 Brindle Drive, Harrisburg
(717) 651-1600
www.plumbottom.net
