Brookfield - Jim Sajdak's kids call him "Dad" around the dinner table, but at Stan's Fit for Your Feet, he's Jim.
That may be the easiest part of adjusting to new roles as the next generation of the Sajdak family prepares for when they will take over the family's local chain of shoe stores.
"I don't intend to work forever," said Sajdak, 60.
The Sajdak family is committed to keeping their five-store chain viable and family-owned into the foreseeable future.
If they succeed, Stan's will be one of the few family-owned companies that make it into the third generation of ownership.
Sajdak's son David, 26, and daughter Megan, 24, are now in management roles in the company and are getting ready to take over when their dad retires, although he hasn't set a date to do that.
David, who has a degree in finance and marketing, manages the Brookfield store, after running the Glendale location for more than three years. Megan, a music education major, joined Stan's last year as marketing and events coordinator.
The Sajdak family's need to plan for the future of their business is what prompted Jim Sajdak to spearhead a program on family ownership with the National Shoe Retailer's Association. Sajdak is on the board of directors for the NRSA. About 70% of the trade group's members have family members in their business.
"I saw small shoe businesses just evaporate," he said. "There was not that prepared next generation to take over."
Alan Miklofsky, chairman of the NRSA, estimates the decline in independent shoe stores in the U.S. at between 20% and 30% during the recent recession. The NRSA doesn't have an exact count of stores, but the number is believed to be more than 4,000.
"The better retailers have become stronger," said Miklofsky, who operates a small chain in Tucson.
Those who didn't make it often had trouble raising money to buy inventory during hard times. The decline in housing values compounded the problem for family-owned businesses, because owners couldn't borrow against their equity to get cash for their businesses, he said.
The shoe industry suffers when small retailers go out of business, Sajdak said, because the small stores typically are the ones who will buy new styles. If they are successful on a small scale, manufacturers stand a better chance of getting wider distribution, Sajdak said.
The NSRA's answer to the problem is a program with Loyola University Chicago's Family Business Center. The Next Generation of Leadership program launched in 2009 and now has two components, one for parent-owners and another for their adult children who are future owners.
Founded in 1950
Stan's was started in 1950 as Stan's Bootery, on S. 27th St. in Milwaukee, by Jim Sajdak's parents, Stan and Em. His grandfather had a store on Brady St. before that. With that heritage, David Sajdak always figured he'd be part of the business.
"This is what we know how to do," David said. "It's intriguing. You never know what the day's going to bring."
Megan taught for a year at Marquette University High School, where her mother is on the faculty, before joining the family business. Hers is a new position, and she's using her creativity to plan programs to keep Stan's in front of prospective customers. Megan introduced a Ladies' Night, for example, with wine, food and live music, and she has organized a walking program for customers of the New Balance stores.
Despite spending their childhoods around the shoe stores, they've realized there's a lot more to learn about taking over the business someday.
"There are things we never really talked about, or didn't know we need to talk about," David said.
Difficult subjects
The Loyola program spends a whole day on difficult conversations families need to have. A big one is the issue of gifting or selling the company to the next generation. The program also has tips on how to speak with a sibling as a professional colleague instead of as that kid who fought with you over the size of an ice cream cone.
The biggest challenge for family businesses is the emotional side of the transition, said Andrew Keyt, executive director of the Loyola Family Business Center.
That's difficult for people who have focused their lives around the family business, and many find it hard to let go, he said.
The financial part of the transition is a big deal, but there are financial and legal professionals who can advise families on how to do that, Keyt said.
"Owners have to find something else to love," Keyt said.