retail sales associate

assistant store manager

store manager

retail assistant store manager

floor supervisor

Shoe Carnival Inc.

The management at my particular store is amazing, very understanding of what we, as employees, can and cannot do and what is a reasonable demand of an employee as opposed to an unreasonable demand. Customer service is something I love to provide and I speak to customers and coworkers as if they were my own friends and family, even customers who are unreasonable. This is only hard when the company is very obsessive about email signups.

I feel as though I am harassing people most often as a cashier because of this, it is outrageous to me that, even when I fully explain the benefits of the program and the customer says 'no' I am pushed to get a yes no matter what and even tricking people into signing up. In my opinion, this is NOT okay and my manager shouldn't be forced to force employees to get sign-ups by his boss and the CEO. As a cashier, I do not like harassing customers for their personal information and tricking customers into providing it. I absolutely, under no circumstances, should be pressured to do this and this pressuring has never been as extreme as when I've worked here at Shoe Carnival. I understand wanting people to sign up, but you should not have to harass your employees, in turn, to harass customers into giving out their personal information.

It also makes me upset how the website is barely consistent with the stock in our store and I have met many customers who have been extremely confrontational to me over an item that, when they looked online, was said to be in stock only for, when they get to our store, for it to be not in stock. This is the hardest part of my job along with harassing people for their personal info.

The best part of my job is my coworkers and I love all my coworkers as if they were my own family. We all like to work, it would be even more awesome if we were given more hours just to not only organize shoes but clean the store in terms of dust and grime. There's barely any time to do it with the few people working at a given time but our store is very impeccably dirty- ESPECIALLY the carpets which is another reason I am not so happy with the CEO. We have been told our carpets were going to be replaced since I've been working, an entire year. Our carpets have been extremely dirty and dusty with the promise of replacement yet they still have not been replaced. I never cough or sneeze but at work, I am constantly coughing and sneezing, especially when I'm organizing shoes lower to the ground and have gone through many a pair of khakis due to the dirt on the ground turning the knees of them black.

I've been working at Shoe carnival for over a 7+ months now. I want to say my workplace has the potential to be a good place to work...I was never properly trained in anything. I figured it all out myself, still learning things even now. When i'm not at school, i'm working, which makes the life/job balance very difficult, especially as i'm in a major that requires lots of outside hours. Never get a weekend off, partially because we're  under employed, partially because... well, our General manager is awful. Doesn't train anyone. On top of that, she makes mean, deeming comments and jokes about employees, she rarely comes out of her office, and she always leaves early. Everyone loathes when they have to work with her. According to rules, we also aren't allowed to do anything to stop thieves. They have a prevention bonus but the GM refuses to allow employees who deserve the bonus to get it.

It's so sad because, as I said, there is potential for it to be an alright place to work. The other 4 managers are all kind and fun to talk to and work with. Sometimes you get fun customers to work with, or really funny kids in the store. Sometimes stuff of the mic can be fun, like at Christmas when we had little kids sing carols over the mic for prizes. Most of the job is keeping aisles clean, putting away the shoes people don't put away, answering customers questions and helping them get boxes down. You get a few projects or tasks like making room for new shoes, filling up clearance,  or changing displays, etc, all easy tasks that I personally find relaxing. Register is really is the worse part of the job in my opinion, especially since you have to ask about Shoe perks and customers hate it. There is real potential for it to be fun, but the job can be demanding, especially when its super busy and you're the only person on the floor. Sometimes truck takes days to unpack and is a lot of lifting and moving stuff around, which is stressful when mixed with having to it with multiple other tasks. It feel like you aren't paid enough, and everyone is constantly bogged down having to follow a horrible GM's rules and expectations. I honestly feel that with a better GM, and corporate taking complaints and reports more seriously(Multiple employees have filed reports, they barely gave her a slap on the wrist even though they know how bad she is), it could already improve. Give us better pay and accommodations, and it could even be a 4.5 star.

TLDR: An awful GM is really what makes or breaks a job. If you have an unfair and/or belittling GM, go find another place to work unless you really need some money.

Shoe Carnival is a great place for high school or college students to work. As a part time employee, it is a low stress minimum wage job. Depending on your location, they generally work around schedules pretty well.

Before I start, I would like to state that all of the complaints I’m about to list are based on the actions of people outside of the store. (District manager and corporate positions)
In general, I’ve been content with my direct superiors and coworkers in store.

I would not recommend pursuing a full time position here. I currently work as an assistant store manager. I have worked in 3 different shoe carnival locations. 

The corporate part of the company shows very little recognition for good work, but gladly scolds the peons below them. I have never worked for a company where the district manager is so uninvolved. He will bark orders over email, but never checks in otherwise. We constantly have our goals raised, while having payroll cut and our tools to accomplish said goals taken away. 

Their pay scales are far from competitive. We hire in new employees at minimum wage, very rarely allowing any type of negotiation. From that, yearly reviews happen that can offer raises. I’ve been told multiple times in years past that I received the “maximum amount allowed” on my yearly raise. It was 28 cents. I’m sorry for being ungrateful, but does 28 cents sound like a reward for a year of good work? Not to me. 

Now, pay scales for management. The hourly pay caps at 17. That being said, I am considered “overpaid” by most other management, but I only make 14.50. I’ve been with the company for 4 years, and only got raises when I threatened to find a new job. I have never heard of them giving a merit raise unless someone has threatened to quit. It makes it uncomfortable and less special than if merit raises were actually offered on occasion. Compare these numbers to other companies, and it’s not worth the hassle of running a store. I recently applied for the exact same position at a local competitor, and they pay 50,000 salary for the same job. 

^I wrote all of the above before the current state of the world happened. I will be leaving the company once this pandemic is over with. They have made it abundantly clear that they do not care about the safety of their employees. Greed would be the best word that I could use to describe the company. It is actually disgusting. I wish I could post this on a more public platform, because there is actually no chance that this review changes a single thing in the hands of shoe carnival’s management.

A typical day at Shoe Carnival is full of varied tasks within an excellently structured framework for all associates from General Manager to basic floor personnel. Managers are expected to do anything in a day from receive freight shipments to working a register, but no one is above or beneath any given task. Nearly every associate is generally trained to perform nearly any task that might be required on a day to day basis as policy: No "Not my job" moments from anyone at these stores. Shoe Carnival also has a very dynamic and flexible sales concept that means that a customer's shopping experience can be very personalized as well as giving an active associate a feeling of personal connection to the business without being a commission driven environment.
Shoe Carnival is still a young enough company that nearly everyone in the upper levels of Corporate management has at some point actually worked in a store at the practical level and they work hard to make sure that policy and standards are practical while at the same time of a high caliber. That being said, customer service training standards at Shoe Carnival are also higher than pretty much anywhere I've ever worked, but it pays off in a customer base that greatly prefers our shopping experience to most of the companies competitors.
In retail sales customer service is the name of the game and interacting with customers is both the best and worst part of the job. You work with a huge variation of people on a day to day basis and they will range from brides picking out shoes for their bridal party, to grandmothers taking their 10 month old grandson out for his first pair of sneakers, to surly jerks who would sooner spit on you than answer the question of whether they're looking for running shoes or basketball shoes. However, the good customers outwiegh the bad for the most part, and its a good feeling when a new customer tells you "This is my new favorite shoe store!" It's also great that upward and even lateral mobility are emphasized with in the business structure. If a certain facet of operation is attractive for you the company is very flexible in getting people into new positions.
All in all I would say that working for Shoe Carnival is a pretty great experience, even if the Al Bundy jokes start among your friends when you tell them you sling shoes for a living.

Working there for years now. I have seen everything from great workers to terrible polices. It really comes down to the management and the higher ups. This is not a company that truly cares about its workers nor there customers at times. The amount of stress I have seen over the years has tore many people apart. And for what? They have outdated ideas and policies. Shoe Perks are more important than helping the actually customer understand what they are even signing up for. Sense failing to achieve certain numbers can get you fired. But what do you expect when there whole marketing is based on sending emails or texts. They do have the occasional ad for the holidays. This company takes good people and makes them do bad things, it strips away the human side, and from what I have seen can turn many people into very self centered people. And I can't blame them when they are getting yelled out all the time over small things that yes in the grand scheme of it all matters. But a Manager shouldn't be scared of their boss if they are doing everything at their best. But sadly its never enough. Most of the work starts to feel like busy work and is trying to make the store fit a cookie cut out sharp instead of letting the actually staff that works there daily make decisions to drive business. As a manager you have very little control over how product is handled. And don't get me started on theif. You are blamed constantly for losing just over $100 a week. And constantly pushed to get preventions. But the people who come steal from these store range from the average joe, john and sally to the crazy and loud drug users and randoms. How this store is still afloat is beyond me. ONly good thing I can say is that if you get help from these stores. It is because the indivalu cares. They do not pay them more to be nice or go the extra mile and giving good comments or calling in means nothing more than that employee possibley hearing a good job. But let a complaint happen and they are ready to go witch hunting. All in all if you shop here looking for a family friendly place. You may find one but you may also find people who are being forced to be scared of losing merch and scared of losing there job because you as a customer didn't want to sign up for a perks card when its only because you don't have an email.

A typical day at my store, apart from any other stores since all stores are different. To be completely honest can be boring at times. With all the shoe competitors in our area it can be very stressful and disappointing to go a couple of hours without seeing a single customer. However, in the time that I've worked I have learned so much about what people want and how to treat them to keep a business going and It comes with just three words "love, respect, and happiness." If you treat your customers with those three candidates even at times a customer is getting heated they will begin to appreciate the sacrifice and determination you are making for them and they will defiantly tell others and be back. I started at the bottom and saw many employees leave do to the fact of the job being boring or they had better opportunities. I even saw my General Manager, the one who hired me, leave as well. This did not sway my judgement on the company. I however, saw it as a challenge and wanted to prove to myself and others that i'm capable of moving up. That's when a new General Manger took over and saw promise in my abilities to become a manager. Now being a manager I see others perspective of each of my co-workers who I have personally got to know and interviewed and even though most employees are high school students, they show great admiration. On the other hand I'd say there are two reason that my job was hardest one was to not have as many customers that I wanted and to know that my store would likely be shut down do to lack of business. The other was the schedule I had to work it became difficult to pursue other careers that I was interested in. Not that I wasn't capable of meeting the hours. Its just that I'm still very young but have great confidence in my in what I can do and I'm still trying to figure out what I want. But I love meeting new people because I get to understand what they like and get to put a smile on their face. That's what would be the most enjoyable part of my job. But Shoe Carnival is a great business however, it was my very first job and I think i'm ready for something else, besides retail.

I am a General Manager and a typical day at work is never typical. In the retail business, anything can spring up at any time. We have our set goals for the day that we need to accomplish, but you never know what the day is going to entail because of customers. They are all different and have different needs when shoe shopping. You may have this list that you need to get done, but sometimes it just can't happen and that's ok. There's always tomorrow. Taking care of that customer is priority.

I have the best boss! He does his job in supporting you and your team. I have nothing ill to say about him at all. He's a joy to work for. You have a question, you can reach him by phone or email and he'll get back to you ASAP. You will not be ignored which tells me that you and your store are important to him and that he cares. 

The workplace culture is different at Shoe Carnival. We definitely have our own culture. It's hard work to work in a shoe store! We move shoes from aisle to aisle monthly if not more often which is fun for me. I like Tetris, and this job is like a giant game of it. It challenges me and my team and we have deadlines we have to meet and it's a great feeling to get those goals accomplished. 

The hardest part of this job keeping up on those deadlines, but as I said, it's a great sense of accomplishment to get those deadlines met. Visual displays, merchandising changes, and making room for the new inventory coming in on a weekly basis are the hardest parts of the job.

The best part of the job is getting to make customers happy. You're just selling them shoes, but when you find them the exact ones they want or are just ecstatic that they shoes they found are what they wanted, that's a great sense of accomplishment there as well. Another great part of the job is the people you get to work with. We get to hire some fun people and work them on a daily basis. We all work hard and are trying to reach the same goals so it's a fun job. It can be stressful at times just like any job, but the pros outweigh the cons. This is a great company to work for.

When I was hired I was promised lots of chances for advancement. Both positionally and financially. Shortly after working there I learned that isn't the case unless you throw yourself entirely into the company and are willing to take on every open shift. From my experience the online training is amazing and really breaks down procedures and expectations BUT executing it in store is another thing. After your initial key certification the actual training you get is on a "need to know" basis. Basically you're told you should know this, it was in your shoe carnival journey training and you'll get mocked if they need to do any retraining. There's a sad belief that the online courses alone are adequate training. For me I spent 3 days (8 hours each day) in front of the computer doing training and it was a LOT to retain, you can't take notes, and they will quiz you till you drop. Once you're out on the floor you instantly start forgetting what you learned on the computer to try and retain the register procedures (returns), where inventory is, shipping/packing, and worst of all SHOE PERKS. Where I live is primarily senior citizens. If you don't get customers to sign up- you get a lecture. After that it becomes corrective action and it creates so much extra headaches especially for managers. You have ample inventory and no where to put it. You have hours that get cut so not enough staff allowed to work, no time to make holes for truck let alone entire department changes to accommodate new merchandise and yet you still have to work the register. Worst of all though...be aware of what you say and to who. Don't be so sure you can trust what you've told someone in confidence to stay confidential. Especially to upper management.

I loved working here at shoe carnival. It was such a great experience . I loved the people and the work load makes the job easy. I was sad to leave but unfortunately my time came to find something i could see for a career that would pay me well and give me more hours that will not interfere with my time at home with my family. My kids are still small and i was not always available to take off when someone was out, but i tried. My family was suffering from the hours and pay. If i was there full time i would have stayed much longer. I learned alot of patients, managing customers, customer service, safety, precautions, store sales and how the company works with sale accomplishments and their numbers and all that fun stuff. i liked that everyone was friendly and we all became close like a little family. i liked seeing the customers and helping them when they cant find things. i loved the satisfaction when a customer was so greatful for your help and simply just offering your service, when people want to tell your boss that your a great employee or want to give you compensation. it was great to help people in general. the most challenging part of working there was trying to get child care when i was scheduled at nights and being away from my kids getting out past bedtime to pick them up and take them home to bed was difficult for me for a very small check. Also it was in our store where we were cutting down hours and positions alot of people left because of hours and i am one of those. they always considered me as the cash lead but they never promoted me because of the store sales. the culture there is alot of people from mexico. Over all shoe Carnival is great they work with your schedule so much and they help you with anything. I am so grateful to have worked here and have all the opportunities i had. there were not always low hours just toward the end when i needed something better and i finished college so i moved on.

While atmosphere is GREAT and so is the starting pay for associates. Pay for management is not wonderful when you compare it to similar jobs at other companies. You now receive a 25¢ raise after your first 90, and another 25¢ raise after 180 days but only if you’re an associate or cashier any type of management does not receive this raise. This puts the associate’s and management’s pay to a very close rate of pay which given the greater responsibilities of management it should have a higher rate of pay.  They’re a lot worse places to work though. Your main goal is to make shopping fun and easy for your customers. You get to run specials on the microphone all day, you to do contest, and ask trivia questions, etc. to make the customers be excited to be in your store. I feel like our management does a pretty decent job when EVERYONE follows the rules. When the rules are not being followed properly you can always report it to the next level supervisor and/ our district manager and/or loss prevention.  The hardest part of the job can be dealing with irate customers. We ALMOST always have the buy one get one half sale. When customers purchase two pairs of shoes then decide to return one pair; they will lose the buy one get one half off deal. This is clearly stated on the receipt but yet everyday a customer accuses someone out of cheating them out of money.  Say a customer bought two pair shoes normally $100, the buy one get one half sale would make one pair $50. If they come back and return a pair, whether it was the one that was $100 or $50 on the receipt the customer would only be refunded the $50 because they only got a pair half off because they purchased two pair and when you return one you do not get to keep the buy one get one half off sale because it would be like you were  just buying one pair. The best part of your job is that you really do get to have fun while working. Running the mic keeps it interesting you for you and your customers.

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