Famous Shoe Store

Type of Business: Footware

Years of Operation: 1904-1908

Location: Aiken Hotel (Richland Ave E & Laurens St S)

Family: Poliakoff (Samuel)

Sam Poliakoff (1875-1925) operated as a peddler in Aiken County as early as 1894. He opened “The Famous Shoe Store” in the Aiken Hotel in 1904 and operated it there until 1908. His first wife Rosa died in 1902 and he subsequently married his second cousin Rachel Poliakoff. Sam & Rachel left Aiken in the 1910s and went on to open dry goods stores throughout the Upstate, including in Laurens, Greenville & Anderson.