Fred Segal Feet Visionary Stanley Silver Dies at 90

Stanley Silver, the Fred Segal Feet visionary who revolutionized independent retail, was in a league of his own.

Silver — who died Tuesday at age 90 — and his late wife, Patti Silver, built their Melrose Avenue boutique in Los Angeles into one of the country’s most powerful and innovative stores during its four-decade run. Stanley was an early supporter of the luxury sneaker and consistently embraced young and upcoming designers that later became some of the industry’s biggest names.

But in the beginning, a young Mr. Silver didn’t plan to follow the career path of his father — a shoe buyer for the 34-store O’Connor and Goldberg chain in Chicago. Instead, he dreamed of being a professional baseball player.

While he was attending the University of Colorado on a scholarship, an injury be