Robert B. Tucker (1937–2023) was an American businessman, and the founder and CEO of Shoe Show, a footwear retail chain.[3]
Early life
As a baby Tucker's parents divorced. Years later, his mother, Gertrude Cranford Deese married Hugh Tucker, and he adopted Tucker. The family later moved to Concord, North Carolina, where Hugh owned Tuck’s Tavern, where Tucker immersed himself in work. In his high school years, he cleaned the parking lots of an ice cream shop and another local restaurant.[2] In his senior year of high school he secured a job at Baucom’s Shoe Store.[3]
Career
In 1960, freshly out of high school, Tucker opened his first retail store, with his wife Carolyn Clark Tucker, in Kannapolis, North Carolina.[2] The company now has 1,000 stores in 47 US states, with over $1 billion in annual sales.[6]
Philanthropy
In 2010 the Tucker Student Center, at Gardner-Webb University was named after him.[7] Nine years later in 2019, the Tucker Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength Scholarship is named after the Tucker family.[8]
Personal life
Tucker and his wife, Carolyn Clark, had four children, Jacqueline, Robert (Bobby), Greg, and Lisa.[9][3]
