Footwear Insight

44 • Footwear Insight ~ September/October 2024 footwearinsight.com By Bob McGee A nyone who truly believes in the modified industry idiom, "You can't teach an old (shoe) dog, new tricks" hasn't met Greg Augustine. When he was five years shy of his golden anniversary in the retail footwear business back in 2020, Augustine had a turning point of sorts when he took notice of his store's score in Footwear Insight's annual Gold Medal Awards rankings that year. His 8,000-sq.., dozen-staffed Brown's Shoe Fit store in Fort Collins, CO made the cut in 2020 with a score of 70. But noticing stores he respected such as Alan's Shoes, Beck's Shoes and Karavel Shoes being ranked above him, Augustine says, led him to take a closer look at how his business could improve and score higher, as well. "When I got the notification [in 2020] that we were going to be among the top Gold Medal winners, I was elated at first. But when I saw that we were tied for last place in score, I was embarrassed," remembers Augustine, who first began working for Brown's Shoe Fit Co. in Dennison, TX, as a stock boy in 1975. "We saw that we had room for improvement, and we took that to heart... We thought we were doing well, but I suddenly realized that I was not detailed enough about some of the things I was teaching." Augustine, who took over operation of the Dennison store in 1983 aer his dad suffered a heart attack, has never been one to shy away from a challenge, including helping his current Fort Collins store's staff perform better and ultimately score in the highest echelon of Footwear Insight's Gold Medal winners in 2023 with a perfect score of 100. He tells us he has done that partially by using the findings of the Gold Medal mystery shopper, which he called a "wake up call" from the stagnant manner he had descended into for training existing and new staff. For years beforehand, he largely embraced the teachings of international retail authority Harry J. Friedman as the primary plank of Brown's Shoe Fit Co. training program. "It got into more detail about the dynamics and the psychology that a good salesperson uses, whether he/she is selling shoes, furniture or clothes," recalls Augustine. "Friedman really brought it out in me. Wow, I do that all the time. It wasn't like he was telling us things we didn't know. He was telling us things that we knew we did but that we needed to teach." Footwear Insight's annual retail ranking of top independent shoe stores gave Augustine an opportunity to widen his training scope, he says. (e annual awards are given to stores who score highly enough aer being 'mystery shopped' and scored based on a list of customer service criteria. See more info about the awards, award winners and the new criteria for 2024 online at www. goldmedalserviceawards.com.) "We use it as a reminder to the staff of this is what [the store operation] is supposed to look like, but also as a teaching tool of 'here is what a customer believes,'" opines Augustine, who confirmed that the Gold Medal mystery DELIVERING ON SERVICE Comfort casuals and athletic are driving forces in the Fort Collins store. Retail Profile Greg Augustine and His Brown's Shoe Fit Co. Team Focus on the Details.

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