Shoe stores are specialized stores that have a large variety of shoes and accessories for shoes. You can also find a variety of footwear, socks/nylons/stockings and sometimes purses as well. There is a larger selection of those items at these varieties of places than at more generalized department stores.

To obtain employment in a field like this, you do not need a degree in higher education. Having great customer service skills is a requirement, as you will be working very closely with people in this field. The hours of operations for this industry allow for flexible scheduling, so this can be a good place for someone looking for work around a specific schedule like students.

Previous experience is not a requirement in shoe stores. If you are a person looking for your first job, you can gain experience here to help you work your way up into higher positions or other fields of employment.

During holidays, seasonal opportunities often open up. This allows for a large group of people to come in and get temporary jobs for the holiday season to earn a bit more income. All these reasons make working at a shoe store an ideal option for people seeking work.

Job Opportunities

Here are some great employment opportunities in shoe stores:

Cashier: The main focus of this position is to receive payment for the goods the customer is purchasing. They also deal with exchanges and returns. They must be well-verse in the company’s policies regarding payments and returns/exchanges. They often have to deal with unhappy customers, so it is important that the cashier has good customer service skills. In an industry like this a cashier should also be aware to check the shoe sizes of the items being purchased, in case the sizes are different in order to ensure the customer receives both shoes that are the same size. No education is required for this position but on the job training to do the tasks successfully. The average hourly pay is around $9.

Sales Clerk: The clerk is out on the floor and assisting customers. This requires a lot of skills in customer service. The clerk will also need to have knowledge of all the different variety of shoes found in store and where they are located to assist customers. They often will help a customer size their foot or their children’s feet, to help them know their proper shoe size. A knowledge in shoes helps so you can help them establish if a shoe fits or not or ways to help maintain their shoes. You can earn about $9-$10 an hour being a clerk.

Stock Room: You will usually do a fair amount of heavy lifting in a field like this. Working in the stock room, your main priority is to keep it organized so staff can easily access the products they need. This is especially important when it is busy and there is no time to search around the entire back to help a customer. These types of employees are also responsible for ensuring the proper packages get sent out for delivery from their store. Another responsibility of the stock room is to receive inventory and properly place them where they belong. Sometimes, the people who work in the stock room also must be sure they know if an item needs to be ordered so it does not run out. No level of education is required to obtain this position. The average hourly salary is $9-$10.

Managers: A manager’s primary function is to ensure that the employees are being efficient at their jobs. They are tasked with hiring and firing the employees of their store. They are the people who do the employee evaluations, to decide on promotions or if an employee needs to be fire. They will do the scheduling for the store, and fill in if they can’t find a replacement for someone. Managers train the employees upon being hired to ensure they know the company’s policies and how to excel at their job. For shoe stores, managers do not require any education after high school level. Generally a manager gains the position from working their way up the ranks of the store. The average yearly salary is around $30,000.

Job Outlook

As a part of the retail sector, the growth in this industry is around 10%-11%. This is around the national average in other industries. This is as a result of a high turnover rate in this field. The reason for this high turnover rate is because generally the entry level positions are open because people often leave for better paying careers. This also factors in an often rotating door of seasonal employment.