Barry Toombs, a qualified tradesman, purchased the business in the early 80’s and has carried on the good will of the past owners ever since.
In early 1990 the major shopping center in Fortitude Valley closed which had a major impact on local small businesses including Barry’s.
Barry, with his extensive knowledge of footwear construction, coupled with his cobblers frustration at the dwindling quality of modern shoes, decided to specialise in retailing footwear that a boot-maker could back.
Barry began researching Shoe and Boots that fit the Valley, were unique and under-exposed in the market, and had of course sewn on soles! No half life plastics and glues, just real leather, therapeutically made, and cool! He found Dr Martens and began importing them from the UK with a fellow from Sydney who ran the Sydney City and Kings Cross Doc shops. Within the first year Dr Martens Australia was established, fast forward 30 years and Downes Shoes has become Australia’s longest running Dr Martens Specialist Store!
2020 – Barry’s still here, although now we call him the Doc Father, and he has with him an expert team of individuals who share his passion for Dr Martens.
We LOVE to assist in anything related to Docs… as well as having on offer the most comprehensive physical, walk in touch feel smell, range of unique styles in the Southern Hemisphere, we pride ourselves on stocking Small, Medium & Large sizes! Women’s 5 to 11 & Men’s 6 – 15. That’s UK 3 – 15 and ANY half sizes we can get our hands on. We do not discriminate, Docs are for EVERYONE. Plus we stock a large kids range.. Size zero for newborns to 3 for pre-teens!
Instore, we want to make your Doc Day A very Happy Doc Day – We actually have a small party with you and celebrate with Party Poppers! You can try on as many pairs as you like, we have shoe parties & professionally fit you in your favourite choices,
If you cannot visit us in the store, we post shoes/boots/accessories/vouchers within one business day as you pay, no waiting for mail runs, sectional staff or warehouse bull sh*t – Our stock is here, safe in our “batcave” and treated as our own. When you order, we check the actual stock style. We open the box to ensure that the shoes are perfect and no surface scratches or inconsistencies wrong sizes appear etc… It happens! So no waiting for a month to find out that your order is refunded/ out of stock…or upon receiving the shoes to find out at the last minute that the wrong size was in the box from the factory! We personally and carefully check that your new docs are 100% perfect, because quality and service are MOST important to us.
We still want to be friends in the morning, next month, next year… Our After Sales Service Rocks! AND we will exchange for incorrect size/style!!
We update the website daily, in-house by us. So there’s no old news here – we are as well oiled as a fresh pair of 1460 Crazy Horse Oil Skin Boots and run as seamlessly as a side of Dr Martens Smooth finished leather, yet feel as familiar and comfortable as your favourite pair of Docs!! We are an all in one 7 person team that never misses a beat! We are passionate about your Doc Fitting & Wearing Success!!
We are Tradition as Docs are Tradition. Don’t sell yourself short buying from Johnny Come lately/s that don’t understand leather care or appreciate getting your perfect Doc fit, or that misunderstand service; we have FREE services, stretching, oiling, bashing (just ask us)!
At Downes we prefer to meet new friends in a fun and pressure free environment where we know everyone cares about us and our uniqueness’… SO that’s what we create for you! YES we are here for you to make this moment perfect; we are without doubt retailers with HEART AND SOUL and 100+ years experience!!
