Standard Sample Shoe Store

Charles F. Donen (1893-1954) was one of four children raised by Russian immigrants, Isaac (1847-1914) and Bettie Levkoff Donen (1873-1953). Born in Charleston, Charles had an itinerant childhood moving between Charleston, Augusta, Beaufort, and South Carolina’s Hampton and Aiken counties, before enlisting in the Georgia National Guard in 1916. Following his discharge in May 1917—mere weeks before the initial World War I draft registration window began—Charles moved to Columbia, South Carolina and opened Standard Sample Shoe Store. Operating at 1537 Main Street, Charles advertised shoe fittings for the entire family. In 1919, he briefly opened a second shoe store called Columbia Stock Buyers Co., which operated at 1229 Main Street from July to November of that year.

In 1920, Charles announced that he would not be renewing his lease at 1537 Main Street and would instead be retiring from the shoe business. Alongside his store closing announcement, he reprinted an excerpt from a Federal Trade Commission report that blamed retailers for high shoe costs across the country and noted “We are to put this sale on to help you fight the high cost of living. We will sell shoes during this sale without one cent profit.”¹

After closing his shoe store, Charles took over Rubenstein’s Outlook Cloak & Suit Co. for his future brother-in-law, Joseph Rubenstein (1896-1956).

¹ Advertisement, Columbia Record, April 30, 1920, 12.