The Aetrex Story: Three Generations on Their Feet

It started with a man who couldn’t stand the pain.

In 1946, Paul Schwartz was working in a New York City shoe store, and his feet were killing him. Day after day, he stood on hard floors, helping customers find shoes that fit — while his own feet ached with every step. He wasn’t alone. He saw it in the faces of the people who walked through the door: nurses, teachers, factory workers, mothers, all searching for something that would just make the hurting stop.

Paul didn’t have a fancy laboratory or a team of engineers. He had a simple, honest question: What if the right support could change everything?

So he and his brother Charles started making arch supports. Small, unassuming pieces of molded material that slipped into shoes and quietly transformed how a person moved through their day. They called the company Apex Foot Products, and they built it on one belief that has never changed: when your feet feel good, everything else gets better.

A family business, passed down like a well-worn pair of boots.

Paul’s son, Richard, grew up watching his father and uncle work. He joined full-time in 1966 and brought something valuable with him: he actually understood retail. He’d spent years on the floor of his uncle’s shoe store, Eneslow Shoes, fitting real people with real feet and real problems.

That combination — manufacturing know-how and retail experience — became Aetrex’s secret weapon. Richard didn’t just design products. He knew what would actually work when a customer walked into a store and sat down to try something on.

Richard pioneered some of the industry’s most important firsts. He developed the first footwear designed specifically for people with diabetes and peripheral neuropathy, using special foam and seamless linings to protect feet that needed extra care. He created Lynco Orthotics, the first over-the-counter orthotic that offered real support without requiring a custom fitting — something that made good foot care accessible to millions of people who couldn’t afford custom solutions.

Then came the big idea: what if we could actually see what’s going on inside a shoe?

In 2002, Aetrex introduced iStep, a pressure plate that captured data from underfoot and recommended the right orthotics for each person’s unique foot type. It was revolutionary. Suddenly, fitting wasn’t guesswork anymore. It was science.

That was just the beginning. Over the next two decades, Aetrex invested heavily in technology. They built the Albert 3D foot scanner, a device that uses computer vision, sensors, and machine learning to analyze your feet — your arch type, your pressure points, your alignment — in under a minute. They developed the Foot Health Network and foot.com, which became the internet’s leading resource for foot health information.

Today, Aetrex has placed more than 12,000 scanners worldwide. Those scanners have performed over 50 million foot scans since 2002. That’s 50 million people who now know something they didn’t before: how their feet actually work, and what they actually need.

The third generation is carrying the torch now.

Richard’s sons — Larry, Evan, and Matt — joined the business in the early 1990s and brought a fresh perspective: a focus on the consumer. They pushed the company toward direct-to-consumer footwear, launched the Aetrex shoe line, and kept the family’s spirit of innovation alive.

In 2025, Larry Schwartz, now CEO, launched the Zoe Pro 3D foot scanner. It does almost everything the flagship Albert Pro does — 3D measurements, pressure analysis, AI-powered product recommendations — but at a fraction of the cost. Larry compared the vision to Tesla’s approach: taking cutting-edge technology and making it accessible to the mainstream.

“Just as Tesla revolutionized electric vehicles with the Models 3 and Y, our goal was to make cutting-edge foot scanning attainable for the broader market — without compromising performance,” he said. “This is the future of fit. And it fits everyone.”

But technology is only part of the story. The heart of Aetrex has always been people.

In 2026, Aetrex partnered with Tradehome Shoes to bring foot health screenings to athletes at the Special Olympics USA Games. They stationed twelve Albert Pro scanners throughout Athlete Village, giving every participating athlete a complimentary pair of Aetrex Speed Orthotics designed to improve alignment, reduce fatigue, and prevent injury.

“We’re championing the mobility of an incredible community,” Larry said. “Our goal is to provide a foot health foundation that lets athletes focus on their passion with the confidence and personalized care they need to succeed.”

They’ve also donated thousands of pairs of shoes to disaster relief efforts, including 7,000 pairs for Hurricane Katrina victims. And they’ve partnered with IMG Academy to scan every incoming student-athlete, giving them personalized foot assessments and the right footwear from day one.

Nearly 80 years later, Aetrex is still a family business.

Still privately owned by the Schwartz family. Still headquartered just outside New York City in Teaneck, New Jersey. Still driven by the same belief that started it all back in 1946: that the right support can change everything.

Paul Schwartz started this company because his feet hurt. His sons and grandsons built it into a global leader in foot health technology. But the mission has never wavered. It’s still about helping people feel better, move better, and live better — one step at a time.

Because when your feet feel good, everything else gets better.

Aetrex. Healthy feet. Healthy body. Since 1946.