Shoe Carnival Employee Reviews

2.0

Store Associate (Former Employee)

6.3.2023, Job Location: Dallas, TX

Will make you feel like trash, never appreciative, if you call off, you will never hear the end of it. You will just get yelled at time after time. Don't care for your wellbeing.

4.0

Associate (Former Employee)

1.3.2023, Job Location: Ocala, FL

Can be fun depending on working with it’s what you make of the main thing you’ll have to worry abt is entitled customers but other than that it can be a pretty cool place.

3.0

Sales Associate (Former Employee)

22.2.2023, Job Location: Newport News, VA

Good hours but the pay isn't worth it considering the amount of things you do during each shift. You get discounts on purchases. Managers were very enjoyable people, fun to talk to (whether it was company related stuff or real life questions) and easy to work with.

Store is usually pretty busy or filled with customers, you're still expected to be doing something (cleaning, organizing, etc) even if it's a slow shift. Customers were easy to deal with but would get overwhelming on a busy day. Would stay for the people (managers and other employees) but not the wage.

5.0

Sales Associate (Former Employee)

6.2.2023, Job Location: Woodridge, IL

Hands down the best job I’ve had. The people you work with really determine whether or not you will enjoy your job. Management at the location I was at was amazing and they felt like family to me instead of my bosses. Store 161!! :)

3.0

General Manager (Former Employee)

3.2.2023, Job Location: St. Louis, MO

Love the people. Training is good with advancement potential. Some stores are better than others. Benefits are okay. Corp. visits are no fun at all.

3.0

General Manager (Former Employee)

3.2.2023, Job Location: St. Louis, MO

Love the people. Training is good with advancement potential. Some stores are better than others. Benefits are okay. Corp. visits are no fun at all.

3.0

Assistant Store Manager (Former Employee)

24.1.2023, Job Location: Florida

When I was hired I was promised lots of chances for advancement. Both positionally and financially. Shortly after working there I learned that isn't the case unless you throw yourself entirely into the company and are willing to take on every open shift.

From my experience the online training is amazing and really breaks down procedures and expectations BUT executing it in store is another thing. After your initial key certification the actual training you get is on a "need to know" basis. Basically you're told you should know this, it was in your shoe carnival journey training and you'll get mocked if they need to do any retraining.

There's a sad belief that the online courses alone are adequate training. For me I spent 3 days (8 hours each day) in front of the computer doing training and it was a LOT to retain, you can't take notes, and they will quiz you till you drop. Once you're out on the floor you instantly start forgetting what you learned on the computer to try and retain the register procedures (returns), where inventory is, shipping/packing, and worst of all SHOE PERKS.

Where I live is primarily senior citizens. If you don't get customers to sign up- you get a lecture. After that it becomes corrective action and it creates so much extra headaches especially for managers. You have ample inventory and no where to put it.

You have hours that get cut so not enough staff allowed to work, no time to make holes for truck let alone entire department changes to accommodate new merchandise and yet you still have to work the register. Worst of all though...be aware of what you say and to who.

Don't be so sure you can trust what you've told someone in confidence to stay confidential. Especially to upper management.

3.0

Cashier Lead (Former Employee)

16.1.2023, Job Location: Fort Wayne, IN

Customers are very rude and management can be uptight as well. Other employees also wouldn’t do much of the work and always complain when something didn’t go their way.

2.0

Assistant Manager (Former Employee)

3.1.2023, Job Location: Florida

The policies and procedures are lowest common denominator.

They hire subpar management and do not train them.

Communication from corporate is available for those who search it out but if the GM is a bad communicator then you will be always chasing the information you need.

It is a concept style store that requires you to buy in to the program but has no punishment for those who will not.

1.0

Store Leader (Current Employee)

12.9.2022, Job Location: Whitehall, PA

Show carnival May seem like a good place to work But They expect you to work too much for very little pay. They promise you promotion and growth and you get neither. It is an unfair place to work.

Management is unfair and unprofessional. There is lack of communication but they expect you to understand everything going on in the store.

Depending on who they hire, There is favoritism between employees. I wouldn't recommend working here to anyone.

1.0

Sales Associate (Former Employee)

3.9.2022, Job Location: Owasso, OK

No matter how much you get paid it will never be worth it for the amount of work they make you do. Sometimes you’re lucky to even get scheduled for 10 hours/week while other times they make you work dang near 40 hours/week when you’re only a part time employee and in high school or a full time college student.

The company treats you like you’re a robot and doesn’t seem to understand the fact that 16-20 year olds aren’t gonna act the same way 40+ year olds do.

The managers talk badly about employees to other employees for no reason other than the fact that they just don’t like that person. Management expect you to be mind readers and know about rules/policies/sales/etc that no one ever told you about.

If another employee is causing problems, don’t expect management to do anything about it.

3.0

Assistant Store Manager (Current Employee)

4.8.2022, Job Location: Hendersonville, TN

Been one of the best jobs I've ever had, however the pay is just non existent. It is impossible to make a living unless you go to GM position.

That would literally be the only reason I wouldn't work here. It is quite literally impossible to survive off a wage here. It's also washy on which policies are enforced and which aren't. Ie. We are told a return policy but can't actually follow it.

Corporate management is very disconnected from what it's like to actually be at the store level, constantly stressing and micro managing over things that at a store level are the least of many concerns.

Overall a great experience honestly, but I cannot stress the lack of pay enough. Managers of several years make (literally) less than any customer service position in the area.

2.0

Cashier/Sales Associate (Current Employee)

10.7.2022, Job Location: Virginia

Initially the job seems very straight forward. There are simple tasks to be completed and asked of, but management can be very judgemental, and you really only get benefits if you work full time .

It is very hard to work in an environment where you constantly feel as though every “mistake” you make will be judged. It’s like walking on pins and needles at work, but not being able to say anything without the fear of being talked about behind your back.

There is a lot of back and forth between management, so some tasks are confusing because you don’t know what each manager wanted you to do.

1.0

Store Manager (Former Employee)

29.5.2022, Job Location: Medina, OH

While at first I loved working here, towards the end I hated it. I felt burned out, was always helping while short staffed, I worked two open to closes a week. When it was time for reviews, the company decided to raise the minimum pay for the position.

So after 1.5 years and working over time, I made as much as the person hired two weeks ago. we were short staffed but I needed to take PTO for medical reasons, it was not an option. When I talked to my manager about the pay, she said I wasn’t supposed to find out. so my loyalty meant nothing. Don’t do it.

4.0

Cash Lead (Former Employee)

11.4.2022, Job Location: Florida

The best things were that the other employees whether they’re higher ups or not care about your health the most. If you ever get sick or some emergency comes up they are very understanding about the situation. Also when working holidays, the company will pay for food.

The worst would be the management style. Sometimes we would be severely understaffed and overworked time-wise. However i cannot comment on management styles at other locations as the 2 locations i worked at was with the same manager.

I stayed with the company for 2 and a half years until i was able to further myself and move on to other opportunities.

5.0

Assistant Manager (Former Employee)

9.4.2022, Job Location: Indianapolis, IN

This is one of the best places for a job, especially if it’s your first job. I worked there for four years and I don’t regret one day. They will work around any schedule you have. They offer great benefits and they treat their staff with a lot of respect and love.

4.0

Sales Associate (Current Employee)

9.1.2022, Job Location: Coral Springs, FL

Simple job. Management is nice and overall helpful. Pay is decent but personally something I wouldn't want long term. It's a good first job and I would recommend for people just starting out.

1.0

Sales Associate (Former Employee)

9.12.2021, Job Location: Peoria, IL

I am not fond of this store anymore. I was not treated fairly at and the pay was awful. Everything I was told to do I did to the best of my ability and still got in trouble for.

Not going through the trouble of coming in this store again till something changes. Watched other managers make fun of a manager and treat them very awful. I do not recommend working for this specific location.

1.0

Store Manager (Former Employee)

4.9.2021, Job Location: St. Louis, MO

Working at this company would be ideal for someone who is in high school or for a first job. The pay is not ideal - especially for management, who have to work mandatory 45hr weeks and 6 day work weeks during peak times of the year (back to school & major holidays). In all fairness, I will say that 3 weeks paid time off is given to offset this requirement - which cannot be taken all at once.

Annual raises range from 1-3% for management and what is given relies on the yearly sales of each store individually. Raises for sales associates to team leader is 0.25 per hour. Many stores have issues with theft, "grab and go" and not enough people on staff or security, to aid in that problem.

The manager's main responsibility is to deter theft. Which means, spending the majority of your day at the front door making sure no one leaves without paying. Also while answering the phones and putting out stock, delivering customer service and everything that is entailed in that.

Most managers are women. -5% of them are good to work with, the other 95%- gossipy, catty, childish and display poor leadership ability.

3.0

Costumer Service (Current Employee)

28.6.2021, Job Location: Tampa, FL

My coworkers are great but the company itself doesn’t care about its employees. The pay is awful, (even for managers who have to be adults and spend most of their time there.

They should have a living wage with the hours they work) and for a company that’s focus is shoes, they do not care about foot related health; Standing for 8-12 hours is such an outdated concept for businesses and has been proven to cause health issues.

Some stools behind the counter would be a good start in showing their workers some consideration.

2.0

Assistant Manager (Former Employee)

18.6.2021, Job Location: Orange Park, FL

They keep bad managers. I've worked with some amazing managers. And absolutely loved my job at those points. But when bad management took over they did nothing. He ran the store into the ground.

17 employees quit during this time leaving us other employees to work doubles non stop. I had no time with my children or home life at all.

He ran everyone into the ground and gave no encouragement or any type of good job even though we overwhelmed ourselves working like that. Sad such a good company let's many great employees walk away then to get rid of the problem (that manager).

3.0

Sales Associate/Cashier/Customer Service/Stock (Former Employee)

8.5.2021, Job Location: Mishawaka, IN

I took a position as a cashier but ended up doing multiple things around the store such as running isles, doing truck, being a sales associate, many things are required of you that you don’t even apply for.

The pay is definitely too low to want to stay there, you can ask for specific days off in the week but it’s rare to ever have less than 5 days working always 8 and a half hour shifts and you spend your whole day there. Customers are rude everyday and it’s a lot to handle.

Management is very picky and one manager will tell you to do something a specific way while another manager will yell at you for doing it like that. Not well maintained at all, always short on staff due to bad working environment.

1.0

Sales Associate (Former Employee)

16.3.2021, Job Location: Foley, AL

When I was working at shoe carnival, as a cashier I felt like I wasn’t treated fairly, I didn’t get not a single break when I am a minor.

At closing I was the only one doing anything while most people were on their phones. They would only ever schedule two people to close which isn’t good especially if someone calls out that was supposed to close.

When I had to quit for personal reasons, the manger did not respond to me, and was very rude when I went to pick up my check. The absolute worst place I have ever worked. I do not what so ever recommend working here.

Pay is awful and so is management.

3.0

Processing Clerk (Former Employee)

5.2.2021, Job Location: Evansville, IN

After a previous manager passed away and a new system was put into place. It has become almost impossible to meet daily/weekly goals that were previously easy to exceed.

We're talking about a 40%-50% decrease in productivity with the new system even when we manage to have enough workers in the various positions.

We are usually understaffed since no one wants to work 60 hours a week Mon-Sat on a permanent basis just to make up for mistakes management make.

Mistakes like changing a system that had you easily exceeding goals. Mistakes like getting rid of all temporary staff the moment we catch up, only to be understaffed and fall behind almost immediately. When I started there every other worker had at least 5 years under their belt.

It was a decent paying job, with a set schedule, that actually had good work life balance. Since then about 80% of those staff have quit. One person with over 20 years working there took a pay cut to go somewhere else, that is how bad it has gotten.

I toughed it out for awhile hoping it would get back to normal, but management has made it clear that this is the new normal.

1.0

Sales Associate (Former Employee)

17.12.2020, Job Location: Baton Rouge, LA

This job pays horribly, if you have real bills and responsibilities then this job isn’t for you. The management is a joke.

Everyone talks about everyone. They have a huge turnover rate, because they don’t know how to talk to people.

Employees were more knowledgeable than some of the managers. They threaten to write you up and cut hours over low shoe perk scores. I wouldn’t want my worse enemy to work there.