Living Legends
Retired CEO
Allen Edmonds | Port Washington
John Stollenwerk is credited with building Port Washington-based shoe manufacturer and retailer Allen Edmonds Shoe Corp. into the upscale men’s footwear brand it’s now recognized as. Stollenwerk was part of a group that purchased the company in 1980 and later bought out his partners. He served as CEO from 1980 to 2006, when he sold the company to private equity group Goldner Hawn. In his retirement, Stollenwerk has focused on philanthropy, with a focus on Catholic education in the Milwaukee area. In 2020, he gifted $2.5 million to establish a pathway program that provides scholarships and support for Marquette University High School students who want to go to Marquette University.
Education: Bachelor’s and master’s, Marquette University
Business leaders you’d like to have dinner with: “John Schlifske – great leadership, integrity, personality, and he wears Allen Edmonds. Anne Zizzo – entrepreneur to the max, friendly and a ‘doer.’”
Fun fact: “Went to the Jesuit University in Buenos Aires on an Organization of American States Scholarship. Was the director of the Biafran airlift for Catholic Relief Services. Wife, JoEllen, and I lived in São Tomé. At 18, I began a painting company, hiring other students to help with (Marquette) tuition. My German relative, Maria Helena Stollenwerk, was beatified by (Pope) St. John Paul (II).”
Biggest risk: “Buying Allen Edmonds while at the same time beginning an animal feed factory/business in Brazil.”
As you enter your office, what would you choose to be your walk-up or theme song: “Blue Suede Shoes”