About Us

FSW Shoe Warehouse is a third generation footwear business which started in 1927 with two brothers Tom and Jo Frawley who ventured from the big smoke of Sydney loaded with a truck full of shoes to a little country town called Queanbeyan just outside of Canberra ACT. Canberra having been declared the Capital was growing, and Tom and Jo thought they would see if they could sell some shoes and make a mark on footwear retail. They successfully sold all their shoes from the back of their truck and a new era in Australian footwear began!

Several years later two of Tom Frawley's sons John and Ted Frawley started to work in the business and learn the ropes. Twenty-five years later John and Ted took over the business and this saw Frawley Bros grow into the second generation of footwear retail in Canberra ACT.

John and Ted employed all their children in the business over the years but three sons Gerard, Stephen and Michael (better known as 'The Boys') had a vision and a shoe box full of enthusiasm for the family business!

In 2000 'The Boys' took the reins and started the third generation of the family business. After years of great training from their fathers and a sound knowledge of footwear retailing in Australia, 'The Boys' identified an opportunity to deliver to the shoppers of the ACT and surrounding areas a distinctive retail concept that would allow customers to browse, feel and try on at their leisure, quality footwear at a discounted price. As this was a new form of retail they also changed the name of the business from Frawley's Shoes to FSW.

We often get asked: What does FSW stand for? Maybe it is Frawley Shoe Warehouse, or maybe it is Footwear Shoe Warehouse...or to some we could also be Fashion Shoe Warehouse!

The first FSW Shoe Warehouse store opened in September 2002, and just like their grandfathers, the first store opened in Queanbeyan where the original business started 74 years earlier! The concept of FSW was to offer their customer base quality footwear and recognised brands at everyday discounted prices. It soon became apparent that the FSW concept was a hit with consumers in the ACT and four more stores in ACT were opened.

In 2004 'The Boys' took a risk and thought they would try the FSW Shoe Warehouse concept in regional NSW. This saw the start of another new beginning for the business, with the introduction of a fourth director, Paul Smith, who had years of footwear retail experience in Regional NSW.

From 2004 to 2009, FSW Shoe Warehouse opened another 8 stores across regional NSW, and now employs over 100 employees.

2010 marked a busy year for FSW Shoe Warehouse with the opening of two new stores - Canberra City, and our FSW 'Super Store' in Alexandria (Sydney) which is Australia's largest independent shoe retailer under one roof! We also launched the FSW Shoes website, where our customers are now able to buy a growing range of our fantastic shoes online.

Who would have thought that in 85 years the Frawley family could go from selling shoes from the back of a truck to 13 stores and the virtual world of buying online!