(FORTUNE Magazine) – The place locals go in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is Dondukov Street, a cobblestoned commercial strip where a marble-floored store is selling Hush Puppies shoes. Everybody in Bulgaria, it seems, wants to slip his or her feet into these soft, pigskin products. This summer 1,200 pairs were sold in two days -- the result of an advertising blitz made possible by glasnost, Bulgarian style. Billboards depicting the woeful basset hound that is the Hush Puppies trademark were plastered on streetcars, and radio publicity bombarded the airwaves. The craze continues: The store -- the only Hush Puppies outlet in the country -- is selling 2,000 pairs a week, about seven times more than a comparable U.S. retailer. The shoes sell for about $20, which is less than most domestic brands. Women seem to love the choice of bright colors, ranging from lime green to cherry red. Another lure: the American mystique. ''Despite all the ragging, U.S. standards are still admired,'' says Thomas Gleason, chief executive of manufacturer Wolverine World Wide. He has licensed Pirin, a state-owned shoe manufacturer, to make Hush Puppies, most of them in U.S. styles. Success in Sofia continues the ongoing recovery of Wolverine, which lost $13 million in 1986 on sales of $342 million. Gleason brought in new management, closed U.S. plants, and sold unprofitable operations. As a result the company made $6.5 million in 1987 and $3.1 million in 1988's first three quarters. With a foothold in Bulgaria, Wolverine now is prowling other countries in Eastern Europe. ''Everybody talks about the market in Western Europe,'' says Gleason, ''but people in Communist countries wear shoes, too, and there are more of them.'' F.H.K.