Walking on A Cloud is a Canadian family-owned and operated business. We are dedicated to consistently surpassing our customers' expectations, taking pride in offering expert service, professionalism, and high-quality footwear. Our goal is to build lasting relationships with our customers through exceptional value and service.
As a top footwear retailer, we offer an extensive range of men’s and women’s shoes from world-renowned, high-quality brands. Whether you're hiking rugged terrain, working in the office, or need something for everyday wear, we have the perfect footwear for every occasion. We stay ahead of trends by regularly introducing the latest in style, comfort, and technology to our stores. Our expert, knowledgeable staff delivers unparalleled personalized service, starting with measuring your feet for length and width, ensuring you find the ideal fit.
At select locations, we offer the Albert 3D Fit Scanner by Aetrex. This advanced scanner uses four Intel® RealSense™ 3D Depth Cameras to capture precise foot measurements—including length, width, girth, in-step, and arch height—down to a millimeter in just 10 seconds. The data is transformed into a 3D model, offering an engaging and interactive experience with over 3.5 million data points.
We carry a wide variety of styles, sizes, and widths, ensuring you can walk out with perfectly fitted shoes the same day. In response to today’s footwear needs, we also offer a large selection of orthotic-friendly, environmentally conscious, and vegan-friendly shoes, as well as footwear designed for individuals with various health conditions.
About the Owner, Paul Vella
September 2009 marked Paul Vellas' 50th anniversary in the shoe business.
In 1959, Paul decided to leave the family grocery store business and he and his mother Carmella, opened his first family shoe store on St. Clair Avenue naming it "Vella Shoes". In 1961 he expanded to two stores, opening another location on Jane St. at Lawrence. This store opened in a Plaza and operated for 10 years. In 1963, he purchased Chesler Shoes at Keele and Wilson Avenue continuing the ‘family shoe store’ operation.
An opportunity to open his first Mall store arose in 1962. This was a Chesler Shoe store in Sheridan Mall, Mississauga. In 1964, Eglinton Square in Scarborough opened. In 1965, he opened the first of 5 Naturalizer Shoe concept stores at Sheridan Mall. In 1966, he opened Shoppers World Danforth, continuing the Chesler Shoe stores.
He expanded to Morningside Mall in Scarborough and Hopedale Mall in Oakville in which we operated a Cheslers and a Naturalizer store. Cheslers continued to expand to a strip plaza in Oshawa and a downtown street store in Orillia.
In 1994, Paul purchased the ‘Walking On A Cloud” name from the Bata Shoe company and took over their location in the Mapleview Centre. Since then the existing locations have slowly been changed into Walking on a Cloud stores and many exciting new locations have opened throughout Southern Ontario.
Over the years store names, brands and styles changed but Paul’s devotion to the shoe business never did. His love of shoes continues to be evident in the depth and breadth of inventory in his stores. He has been labelled the hardest working guy in 'the shoe business'. He works harder today than ever before. By trade, he is a certified electrician, however, he has mastered many trades and his job duties and dedication are endless. To name a few he is our: full-time driver/delivery man, inventory supervisor and director, shoe buyer, shipper/receiver, new store developer, construction worker, resident electrician and overall Mr. Fix it. Whatever the need, he is always there for his staff, friends and family.
Giving Back to the Community
At Walking On A Cloud we understand and value the importance of giving back to the community.
We support a variety of different charities and foundations. Our annual fundraising campaign is in support of the fight against breast cancer.
We also participate in Shoe Recycling Programs that not only support those people who are in need of footwear but also help reduce waste in our landfills.
In 2010, Walking On A Cloud launched its reusable bag program. Again the benefits are two-fold, they reduce waste and a portion of each bag sold is donated to our breast cancer charity.
