Our Team
Meet the Staff
Stanley Zurek
Store Owner
Store owner Stanley Zurek started working at Penn-Lee in 1972. He worked as a manager for 30 years, during which time he became an expert in all aspects of the shoe business—buying, merchandising, advertising and everything in between. In 2003, Stan purchased Penn-Lee Footwear from its previous owner and turned it into his family business and legacy. He is passionate about carrying on the traditions of the 1960’s while leaving space for innovative new products and ideas.
Stan has not only expanded the store’s inventory of footwear styles and brands; he also created a new work shoe delivery system. 2003 marked the launch of the Penn-Lee Shoe Truck, which specializes in safety toe shoes and boots. The truck delivers footwear to manufacturing and warehousing facilities, where customers are fitted on site. This concept of “bringing the store to you” offers a unique convenience for customers of safety footwear.
When he’s not measuring your feet, Stan enjoys Drinking cold Yuengling lager, watching Hallmark channel movies, and restoring his vintage red ’61 Cadillac. It was built the same year that Penn-Lee opened for business!
Kristen Zurek
Store Manager
Kristen is a proud 2nd generation member of the family business! Her journey into shoe sales was rather circuitous; A professionally trained dancer, Kristen spent 11 years running her own barre fitness studio outside of Denver, which was expanded into a teacher training program and a successful on-demand streaming video program. In 2020, she and her husband decided to move back to Wilkes-Barre to raise their son closer to family. She sold her business and began working at Penn-Lee, where her small role soon evolved into full-time Store Manager.
Kristen’s skill set is diverse: She works on the sales floor but also invests a lot of time into buying, merchandising, product research, employee development, website management, and marketing campaigns. Her background in entrepreneurship is uniquely suited to the customer-driven environment at Penn-Lee Footwear. She’s always looking for ways to improve your shoe shopping experience and preserve the tradition of the brick-and-mortar retail store.
Outside of work, Kristen’s favorite activities include hot yoga, going to the movies, traveling, and spending time with her family and their four (yes, four) adopted cats. Oh–and she loves shoes!
April Wolfe-Sposto
Manager
April has been working at Penn-Lee Footwear since February 2022. In her role as co-manager she has become immersed in many facets of the business: footwear sales, customer service, accounts receivable, and inventory management. April is also the director of our Diabetic Shoe program. Here, she draws on her 20+ year health care background to ensure that our diabetic shoe orders are in full compliance with Medicare’s requirements.
Before her career in the footwear industry, April actually worked as a dental hygienist and dental assistant (no, your shoe fitting won’t come with a tooth exam!). She graduated with honors and subsequently worked in dental offices throughout NEPA doing both hygiene work and administration. With April’s attention to detail, energetic personality, and commitment to quality service, you’re guaranteed to have an enjoyable time at your next fitting..
In her time off April enjoys reading, cooking, and spending time with her husband and son. April is also a lover of all furry animals but only has two cats (for now)! Growing up right here in NEPA makes her feel right at home with our local customers.
James M. O’Meara
Finance Manager
Birth date: A long time ago. He’s rumored to be older than dirt.
Shoe size: 10½. He sometimes wears shoes a half-size larger or smaller to keep folks guessing.
Bio: James was born in Washington, D.C. in 1957, the oldest of five children. The family moved many times during his childhood, but James always managed to find them. He currently lives in Plains Township, Pennsylvania with his lovely wife Ann and his daughter Courtney. His son lives just two houses away.
Unlike his childhood family, our bookkeeper’s wife and children never moved and left him behind. One day, though, they’ll figure out where he hides the car keys and then all bets are off.
James writes bad fiction and does a lot of bookkeeping stuff. He doesn’t goof around too much, or at least not nearly as much as Congress, but if the Pope is in town they go bowling. They often knock back a few cold ones over a plate of chicken wings afterwards. (His Holiness likes the wings hot, and the beer cold. He’s also been heard to cuss in Latin after gutter balls or splits.)
James wrote this on July 31,2023 while wearing size 10½ Skechers slip on shoes. He may buy a second pair, size 11, just to mess with folks.