KALAMAZOO, MI -- One well-known downtown Kalamazoo shoe seller has bought another.

V&A Bootery, which has its flagship store and its origins on the downtown Kalamazoo Mall, has acquired Okun Brothers Shoes, located a few blocks away on Portage Street.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Okun will retain its seven employees.

Saying "It's a great store and great brand name," V&A owner William A. Van Dis said, "We're going to run it as an independent store because it's got a great brand name and a great following itself."

The sale coincides with the Oct. 20, death of longtime Okun Brothers Shoes owner Marvin Okun. He died at age 91 without any heirs. Okun had owned and operated Okun Brothers Shoes for decades as well as the Marvin Okun Insurance Agency.

The shoe store was established by Okun's father and uncle before he was born. He opened the independent insurance agency in 1960.

Okun Brothers, located at 179 Portage St., has been a fixture in downtown Kalamazoo since the 1920s. It is a seller of various lines of shoes, including work shoes and boots that are required clothing by any number of local companies.

"Our intention is to continue to run it as a work and comfort shoe store, specializing in work shoes and unusual sizes," Van Dis said. He said the business stocks men's work shoes in sizes up to 18.

"That's an area that we weren't doing at V&A," he said.

V&A sells casual and dress shoes. He described it as a lifestyle/comfort shoe store.

V&A has been in business since 1923. It is a family-owned enterprise in its fourth generation and has four locations. The downtown store was opened in 1923 by Van Dis' grandfather William Van Dis and Fred Appledoorn. Van Dis bought out his partner when Appledoorn's finances were devastated by the Great Depression.

The business is now run by William A. Van Dis (the grandson) and his son Dan is also works in the business.

V&A has locations at: 6292 S. Westnedge Ave. in Portage (Southland Mall); 321 State St. in St. Joseph; and 3620 28th St. in Grand Rapids; and at 202 S. Kalamazoo Mall in Kalamazoo.

Although he said V&A has never been in the work shoe business, "This is the way for us to get in there and keep another local, historic store meeting the needs of Kalamazoo."