Hawai‘i Island Business: Sole Comfort

By Sara Hayash

Some people shop for shoes based primarily on style. At Sole Comfort, located in the Hilo Shopping Center, you can find shoes that don’t sacrifice comfort in the name of fashion.

After opening his current podiatry practice in 2003, Dr. Rand Mundo recognized a need for comfortable and supportive footwear in Hilo. He would recommend podiatrist approved shoes, but quickly realized there was nowhere for his patients to buy them on Hawai‘i Island. At first he kept a few pairs on stock at his office, but didn’t have the space or staffing to offer a good variety of shoes and sizes. This led him to open Sole Comfort in August 2012.

The store, managed by his wife Joann, is the only shoe store in Hilo that focuses on providing comfortable, podiatrist-recommended shoes. There is also a high level of customer service with a knowledgeable staff including trained shoe fitters who measure and assess the customers’ feet.

“The way I look at a shoe is it can be part of the treatment of a foot problem, or an aggravator if the shoe is improper,” says Dr. Mundo, and he has identified three tests that all shoes sold at Sole Comfort must pass. First, they bend only at the toe instead of the midfoot (in order to prevent arch pain). Second, good side to side stability is essential. Third, they must have a sturdy heel that stays against the foot.

Some of the challenges Mundo faces is determining which styles and colors customers like best and also ordering the shoes with significant lead time. Since mainland shoe companies stock their products seasonally, Sole Comfort must stock up on spring styles to get their customers through the mainland’s winter months of snow boots while residents and visitors enjoy Hawai‘i’s eternal summer in sandals and slippers.

And for those of us who still can’t bear to part with our oh-so-fashionable footwear, but feel our feet protesting by lunchtime, Sole Comfort also offers shoe inserts which are custom-fitted by the I-step machine, which not only measures length and width, but maps the bottom of your foot for personalized foot support as well.

Monday thru Friday 10 am–5 pm
Hilo Shopping Center
1261 Kilauea Ave, Suite 240
808.961.9785
mundodpm@hotmail.com