The Tannery

It sounds like a smarmy salon of tanning beds, but luckily most Bostonians now know THE TANNERY (which opened in 1973) as one of the finest places in town to stumble across new or unknown shoe brands, in addition to being a faithful locale for finding old favorites. The store’s spacious Harvard Square location and notably less-spacious Boylston Street branch are suited to men of all styles, which is probably why the Phoenix’s male readers like the store so much. One trip can yield a pair of splatter-painted Converse Chuck Taylor high-tops, the Salvatore Ferragamo “Nash,” a black patent-leather sneaker with Velcro straps, or Laredo snakeskin cowboy boots.

THE TANNERY | 11A Brattle Circle, Harvard Square, Cambridge | 617.491. 4433 | various locations | thetannery.com