If the Shoe Fits, Start in Retail!

Retail is a very good place to start a career.  If you can guard gold from pirates on a ship, you can work at Fort Knox.   In other words, the job is tough and you will learn so many skills that retail’s a good training ground for many a good business executive.   This is because combining a retail job with a management degree, or even just quality retail experience, is a good ticket for success.    

But let’s not run the marathon until we get you in shoes.  And shoes are a very important place to start.  Buy good shoes for this kind of job, the kind that you can take to a shoe repair shop when the heal wears down or the shoes develop weak spots overtime.  So I am writing about buying real quality shoes.

For one thing, you don’t want to ruin your feet which you can do if you have cheap shoes for you will be on your feet a lot in retail.   Also, the look of the nicest clothes is ruined by the look of bad or cheap shoes, and this affects sales and sales are retail. 

Now nice shoes can cost you some money.  You can get a lot of beautiful clothes cheap at Good Will or Thrift Shops to make up a nice wardrobe; after all, rich people can’t wear the clothes when they die.   But shoes are hard to come by that are decent in a Thrift Store; for once worn, they take the shape of the owner’s feet, which is why you will have to go to a high end shoe outlet that sells upscale shoes.

You want to specifically buy shoes that can be repaired by a shoe repair person because if you have to make an investment of this kind, then make a real investment that also is long lasting.  It will cost twice as much to buy an exceptional pair of shoes this way as compared to buying just a nice pair, but the ability to have them repaired again and again because of the superior material makes the purchase worth it.   It makes the shoes also more affordable in the long run than cheap shoes that you throw away. 

To save on cost, there is a color for shoes that is called Ox Blood.  It goes with both brown and black slacks so you only need one pair of shoes to start with.  (I realize this may not be fashionable for women) . You also want to buy the polish and a kit to take care of the shoes. 

This is a hard concept for this generation that is used to throwing things away, but winners wear nice shoes at work.  It is a good practice to get into.  For one thing, since you will want to get the card of a shoe repair person when you leave the shoe store, you will have the shoes for years, even when you move up to a higher paying job.  And business shoes don’t go out of style whether women’s or men’s shoes, but especially men’s shoes.

You should also extend this idea of nice shoes to tennis shoes eventually when you get the money.  These shoes can also be repaired.  The stupid mistakes of our youth are paid for in old age.  Don’t pay with bad feet.