STRAP
Cheryl Taylor, Editor, talks to independent footwear retailer Louise Crush of The Shoe Room, Herne Bay. Q&A:
Name: Louise Crush Shop: The Shoe Room
Brands: Rieker, Josef Seibel, Ugg, Skechers, Tamaris, Lunar, Ruby Shoo, Birkenstock, FitFlop, Fly, Oxygen, Hush Puppies, UKD,
Home town: Herne Bay Family: Lives with partner
How did you get into footwear? Tell us about your background and your current business? I fell into retail by accident while covering somebody’s holiday as a concession manager. At 19 I became a store manager in fashion retail, working my way through various high street brands as flagship store manager. Most recently, prior to opening my own business, I was a regional manager for Schuh footwear. I have a few fashion boutiques already, and I decided to open The Shoe Room in 2015. It was a whirlwind opening for us, as the new store wasn’t on our planned schedule. I had a strong feeling about the town development going forward for future years and took a leap of faith opening a branded footwear store in Herne Bay. We took it from a derelict building to the shoe shop it is today in just two (very hectic!) weeks.
32 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • MARCH/APRIL 2018
Where are your premises located and how many people do you employ? Do you have a high turnover of staff? Tell us about your shop, the local area, your customers and their requirements? The Shoe Room is located in the coastal town of Herne Bay in Kent. I employ 4 people and was fortunate enough to get Cheryl Packer, previously of Kennedy’s in Canterbury for 18 years – which has brought incredible stability to the team. Her skill and knowledge has been invaluable in moving the business forward and we believe we are now set to move the store on to bigger and better things. The local area has seen a significant improvement in recent years, with
the council positively supporting small businesses and I feel that Herne Bay will continue to grow. Our customer demographic is extremely varied, from somebody going to an event buying a Ruby Shoo to a slightly older customer that is passionate about Rieker as a brand. We tried to add a twist to our product ranges using quality and colour to highlight the ranges within the store. As a new business, we are continually growing and evolving, and we are yet to establish what we believe is our final brand selection.
Do you have an online shop/website and do you use social networking for business? No, however, this we believe is our next step forward and we hope to have a website in place in the next 6 months.
How are you finding the footwear market currently? There is no doubt that after Brexit it has been slightly challenging – particularly with our European brands. Alongside this, continual excessive markdown with the high street retailers has been a particular challenge. However, we believe that by focusing on excellent customer service and listening daily to our customer requirements, this will give us the edge on the high street. We have an in-store loyalty scheme which rewards our regular shoppers and we intend to build upon this data going forward.
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