MacKenzie Morley opens a second downtown boutique catering to shoe and leather lovers.
By James E. Casto
HQ 107 | AUTUMN 2019
Laughing, MacKenzie Morley confesses to having a love affair with shoes. “My husband can tell you I spend plenty of money on shoes,” she says. “I have a closet full of them.”
Now Morley is betting that local shoppers will share her love for shoes. She’s opened MacK’s, a new men’s and women’s shoe store, at 939 Third Ave. in downtown Huntington. Her store is the first of its kind to open downtown since the Foard-Harwood shoe store closed 25 years ago.
Born in New Orleans, Morley and her husband Robert lived in Scotland for several years before his job with Special Metals, where he’s vice president of the company’s Wire Group, brought them to Huntington.
“We’ve been here for five years now,” Morley says, “and we’ve never looked back. Huntington has been great to us. Our twin boys, Nico and Sebastian, were born here. When the boys entered preschool, I decided I wanted to go back to work.”
Her background is in corporate communications, but Morley decided to try something very different. She opened Kenzington Alley, a fashion boutique.
Her dream, she says, was to bring labels from across the globe to Huntington.
“Seventy-five percent of our inventory comes from abroad. Our customers are able to shop locally and find exciting items that they won’t find at the mall or anywhere else. When you find something here, you will be one of the very few who have it.”
Kenzington Alley offers women’s clothing, handbags, jewelry, other accessories, skin care and bath and body products, as well as other beauty, home and gift items.
“Many of my boutique’s customers would buy something and then voice a wish that there were a shoe store nearby where they could buy something to go with their new purchase.”
So, Morley began dreaming of opening a downtown shoe store. MacK’s is that dream come true.
“At MacK’s we carry a wide range of shoes from dress to casual, for both women and men, along with some leather goods and accessories. Our aim is to fill the void for shoes and leather accessories that has existed in downtown Huntington for so long.”
Kenzington Alley is located in one of the vintage Third Avenue buildings that have been painstakingly restored by Huntington audiologist and real estate developer Dr. Joe Touma.
“Dr. Touma is a real joy to work with,” Morley says, “and so when it came time to think about where we were going to locate MacK’s, we were fortunate to be able to move into another building he owns, one that’s just a few doors down from Kenzington Alley.”
The MacK’s building, constructed in 1885, originally was the home of the St. Nicholas Hotel. One of the city’s first hotels, it catered to riverboat captains and other guests who visited the new city of Huntington.
“As we experience a resurgence in people dressing well, the opening of MacK’s is well timed,” says Bill Bissett, president and CEO of the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce. “MacKenzie Morley has done great work with her clothing store, Kenzington Alley, and I feel sure we will see similar success with her new shoe store.”
Bissett also noted that Morley is becoming a leader in downtown Huntington.
She’s the executive director for Downtown Huntington Partners, an association of businesses aimed at promoting the downtown, and serves on the My Huntington committee. In its three years since it opened, Kenzington Alley has focused on community service and events. Morley says MacK’s will do the same.
“After all,” she says, “our tagline is ‘more than a shoe store,’ and we will be exactly that.”
