T A B L E__T A L K Who has how much money, and why? Discuss salaries, options, benefits and minimum wage in the Business and Personal Finance area of Table Talk R E C E N T L Y Finding the g(ive) spot By Kevin Kelleher In the increasingly competitive quest for dollars, charity organizations are looking for ways to find that magic motivational appeal (05/29/98) The reluctant capitalist By Heather Chaplin Salon's Reluctant Capitalist looks at the knotty problem of what to do when you've won $195 million on the lottery (05/22/98) The reluctant capitalist By Heather Chaplin From red to green (05/15/98) Baby bulls By Heather Chaplin Young turks ride high on the booming stock market (04/15/98) Greener pastures By Jenn Shreve Out of the growing glut of finance mags, one zine is poised to capture the expanding market of young investors (04/15/98) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Money archives		________[__T H E__R E L U C T A N T__C A P I T A L I S T__] WALL STREET LOVES THIS LOW-END SHOEMAKER -- AND SO DO FASHION-CONSCIOUS YOUNG WOMEN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BY HEATHER CHAPLIN One day three years ago, I found the perfect pair of shoes. They were black leather, not too matte, not too shiny, with chunky soles and heels that gave me just the right amount of lift. They had a strap around the ankle with an unassuming little silver buckle. And they cost $180. It was a blow my bank account couldn't take, and I put them tenderly back on the display mount, somewhat awestruck at my own frugality. The next weekend I was back, glassy eyed and desperate, credit card clutched in greedy fist, ready to buy them at any cost. I'm fully aware of the insidiousness of consumer culture, but everyone has a weak spot. Sorry, the salesgirl said, that was the last pair, and the manufacturer has stopped making them. Inconsolable, roaming the mall a week later, I thought I saw them again. The leather was perhaps not quite as high quality, the heel not quite so beautifully cut, but still, what I held in my hand contained the essence of my dream shoe. With a price tag of $60 instead of $180. I had discovered the Steve Madden shoe. So had a lot of my friends, as I discovered when I started phoning around. Do you own a Steve Madden shoe? I asked one. Yes, of course. How many? She had to check and there were several moments of silence before she returned. Eight, she said, sounding rather surprised. Steve Madden burst upon the fashion scene in 1990 with a pointy-toed number that resembled cowboy boots with the legs sawed off. You'd probably rather saw off your own legs than wear a pair of them today, but they were a huge hit at the time and they put the tiny Long Island shoe company on the map. Three years later, the company went public, bringing in sales of $5.3 million that year. By 1997, that number had jumped to $59.3 million. By 1999, analysts predict sales may hit $95 million. That would be an increase of almost 1,700 percent in six years. Not bad for a University of Miami dropout who started the business with $1,100 of savings, and who by his own account spent much of his early adulthood doing drugs and sitting in the Florida sun. In addition to selling at high-end retailers like Nordstrom and Federated Department Stores, and the less tony chains like Leed's and Urban Outfitters, Steve Madden now has 17 shops nationwide, having opened 13 of them in the past year alone. Analysts anticipate the company will open in 20 more locations over the next two years. N E X T+P A G E | An ingenious strategy