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13 Things Your Shoe Salesman Won’t Tell You

Ever wonder what the person who helps you get 300 different pairs of shoes is thinking when he goes into the backroom? Here's a…

By John Clark from Reader's Digest March 2010 | March 02 2010
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1. I may be kneeling at your feet, but I’m not your servant. Lose the ’tude, dude.

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2. Don’t ask for a size 7 if you’re a 9. No one cares how big your feet are (though we all appreciate a little foot powder, if it’s not too much trouble).

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3. Shoes should be as wide as your feet and longer than your feet. It’s not just the distance from the heel to the end of the big toe that matters. It’s also the distance from the heel to the ball of the foot.

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4. Don’t try on sample shoes if they’re not your size. “People smash their feet into shoes that are three sizes too small, and then I have sample shoes that have been stretched,” says a New York salesman.

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5. Please don’t keep me waiting ten minutes while you talk on your cell phone. What if I did that to you?

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6. If we don’t have exactly what you want, it may not exist. And I can’t cobble it together in the back room while you wait either.

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7. Losing weight will make your knees, ankles, and feet feel better. Shoes-not so much.

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8. The metal gauge that measures the width and length of your feet is called a Brannock Device. Tell your kids it should stay flat on the floor and not go hurtling through the air toward my head. Many thanks.

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9. Don’t be a serial shoe returner. Once or twice, okay. But 10 or 20 times a year? I don’t think so.

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10. If we tell you that a shoe isn’t a good fit, take our word for it. Customers have been known to try on a shoe that’s too small, and then they can’t get it off.

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11. I’ve spent 30 minutes with you, and then you tell me you need your wife’s approval? News flash: She doesn’t need yours. Next time, bring her along.

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12. You get what you pay for: A $20 shoe isn’t going to feel-or last-like a $120 shoe.

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13. Do you really want to borrow one of the store’s footies to try on shoes? The ones in that box? The ones that everyone in town has used? The ones that haven’t been washed since I started working here? (I didn’t think so.)

Sources: Shoe salespeople in New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.

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