About Walking On A Cloud

Walking on A Cloud is a Canadian family owned and operated business. We are committed to and take pride in constantly exceeding our customers’ expectations. By providing value added service with professionalism and superior footwear, we are able to develop and foster long-term relationships with our customers.

As a leading footwear retailer we possess an extensive collection of womens and mens footwear by the best, high quality brands in the world. We provide footwear for all your needs; from an active day of hiking rough terrain to a work day in the office and everything in between. We consistently introduce the latest in style, trend and comfort technology into our stores. Our professional and knowledgeable sales people provide personalized service second to none. They start by measuring your feet for length and width and are experts at assisting in shoe selection based on the consumers’ needs. We stock a wide array of styles, sizes and widths so a customer can walk out with properly fitted shoes the same day. To meet today’s footwear needs we also stock a large selection of orthotic-friendly, environmentally-friendly and vegan-friendly footwear as well as shoes for consumers with various health related problems.

Walking On A Cloud is definitely the one stop shop for all your footwear needs.

About the Owner, Paul Vella

September 2009 marked Paul Vellas' 50 year anniversary in the shoe business.

In 1959, Paul decided to leave the family grocery store business and him 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 at 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 labeled the hardest working guy in '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 is 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 supports those people that are in need of footwear but also helps reduce waste in our landfills.

In 2010, Walking On A Cloud launched their re-usable 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.

You can find further information on the above under our charitable donations link.



Walking on a Cloud operates nationwide and internationally:
Walkingonacloud in Calgary, Alberta
Walkingonacloud in Victoria, British Columbia
Walkingonacloud in New York, NY
Walkingonacloud in Atlanta, Georgia