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Original poster

Help please Starting up your own local shop - Childrens shoes

28 replies

RuthT · 18/06/2007 20:19

Help Needed

I have an idea of starting up a childrens shoe shop in my local town/village. There is definately a market for one given the demographics and the type of shops on the high street.

I have never owned a retail business
I do not have any idea about how to fit shoes
or What stock to carry
Costs of setting up a shop etc

Does anyone have any experience in this area, willing to mentor me or tell me how mad I am!

OP posts:
Original poster
RuthT · 18/06/2007 20:37

Help ! I know it is an esoteric question.

OP posts:
Marne · 18/06/2007 20:45

Hi, i dont think your mad at all, i have been thinking about opening a childrens shoe shop as there ar'nt many in my area that do fitted childrens shoes other than clarks which has a small choice and never the corect size to fit my dd's. At the moment i am selling some shoe's (new) on e-bay and seem to be doing well.

Original poster
RuthT · 18/06/2007 20:53

oo someone with experience - got to dash Marne but would eb really interested in picking up with you on your experiecne to date

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Cloudhopper · 18/06/2007 20:54

I'm sure there is a market. Clarks are boring boring boring.

But I don;t know your village - good luck.

Furball · 18/06/2007 20:59

I think the main problem is choice. Quite often there is only one or no shoes in the size wanted. The other odd thing is if you want sandals, you have to buy them in april/may time otherwise 'you've come at the wrong time of year' . funnily enough I can;t predict what size my child will be.

Also maybe having an order in service for children with either narrow/wide feet if you can't hold all stock.

scatterbrain · 18/06/2007 20:59

I posted a similar thread about a month ago - didn't get much joy I'm afraid ! Lots of people thought it was a good idea but noone came along with any inside info !

spudmasher · 18/06/2007 21:05

You must get in touch with your local Business Link advisors. They give free business start up advice. www.businesslink.gov.uk
I have found them invaluable - lots of free seminars and one to one support.

Marne · 18/06/2007 21:05

I hate clarks dd has size H which they never have in stock and they refuse to order in, some of the shoe's i would stock are, start-rite, Geox, lelli kelly etc. I would also stock french and spanish soes as they always look well made. I think you need a good choice and good range of sizes.

LynetteScavo · 18/06/2007 21:06

I presume if you were to start selling Start -rite or Clarks they would train you in shoe fitting.

Go to another childrens shoe shop and see what they are selling.

The one in our town sells a lot of Ricosta, Aster, Geox, Leli kellys, as well as Start-Rite. As far as I can tell, they buy the seasons stock and hope it sells, which is why they've sold out of sandals by the end of my, and school shoes by mid August.

Oh, and don't forget to have a fish tank!

scatterbrain · 18/06/2007 21:09

In mine I will have a play area for little brothers and sisters - maybe a big TV screen for when you're waiting and free lollies ! And I will have a loo that I will let customers use !

I will also have all the shoes that have been mentioned below - but NOT clarks !!! I will also order wide and narrow fittings and phone my customers he instant the shoes come in !

Berries · 18/06/2007 21:10

Do your research well. My best friend used to own an adults shoe shop. She refused to stock children's shoes as she said you needed a HUGE amount of stock to be able to offer any sort of choice and the overheads were enormous. Offhand, I can't think of a single shop which only sells children's shoes and isn't part of a chain (sure I'm going to be contradicted here ).
Hope this isn't too negative and good luck if you do decide to open one.

scatterbrain · 18/06/2007 21:11

You might be right Beries - the only two I can think of that are children's only and not part of a chain did actually close down after aboou 18 months !

I have been havinmg trouble finding out wehat the mark-up is on the shoes ! I mean I paid £38 for dd's Start Rite school shoes - and I cannot find out how much they cost the shop !

spudmasher · 18/06/2007 21:13

Where are you RuthT? There is one in Blackheath that is not part of a huge chain that has been around for as long as I can remember - Pares it's called.

ChippyMinton · 18/06/2007 21:19

My local independent (small chain) stocks several of the brands already mentioned and also UMI and Ecco..and Clarks too.
They offer a loyalty scheme - buy 10 pairs (for the same child) and get one free. I do tend to make it my first port of call for that reason and also the staff are lovely with the DC and very patient.

Original poster
RuthT · 18/06/2007 21:26

I am based in West London. There is one small step one giant leap in the nearest big town. however, in one of the more local villagey type places there is a shoe shop that majors on kids shoes and has some adults. I would buy local and not go to the twon is if was close and I think that is why the other villagey type place works well.

Thinkg about kids shoes is you have to replace them so frequently so it seems like a recession proof business.

OP posts:
Original poster
RuthT · 18/06/2007 21:26

Meant to say the villagy shoe shop is an independent.

I would prob stock something else as well. maybe a small clothing stock

Along with bags and brollys

OP posts:
Original poster
RuthT · 18/06/2007 21:27

I think the mark up must be 100%

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scatterbrain · 18/06/2007 21:27

I was thinking of doing small selection of nice toys with mine - wooden classic stuff etc

ChippyMinton · 18/06/2007 21:28

Is one of the shops Johnsons? That's where i go.

cupcakes · 18/06/2007 21:29

There's a great independent shoe shop in Norwich called Stompers. They sell Aster and Kickers etc. I can't find a webpage for them which is a shame as they sound just like what you want.

supertrouper · 18/06/2007 21:32

do lots of research first. Have heard that a certain big supermarket are training shoe fitters at the moment so no prizes for guessing what they are going to venture into next.

ChippyMinton · 18/06/2007 21:33

You could get a job in one of the shops you admire and see how it works behind the scenes?

Original poster
RuthT · 18/06/2007 21:36

Marne - what is your ebay shop called?

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LIZS · 18/06/2007 21:39

There is a local independent shoe shop which opened about 18 months ago and started off mainly doing Startrite then has gradually added Skechers and Geox as well as some ladies shoes. Very little competition , just Barretts and factory store with cheap shoes and trainers in odd sizes. They will order in dd's size(s) as she has supernarrow, tiny feet and know which styles in the catalogue come up larger/smaller, wider/narrower etc and always seem to remember her. At Back to School time you can book a slot to go and get the kids fitted (so minimal waiting) and they gave us some plimsolls for dd as we had bought 2 pairs school shoes plus trainers. Even though they order sizes in the regular stock holding is pretty vast , but the Startrite range particularly has a lot of continuity styles so fewer end of season bargains to be had !

Original poster
RuthT · 18/06/2007 21:51

Chippy minton - good idea but I think I would not be a good employee - I will need to give up current role to take this idea forward and not sure I could bring myself to go and work for someone else. although I see it could be a good idea!

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