Shoe Carnival Employee Reviews

1.0

Sales Associate (Former Employee)

18.10.2020, Job Location: Kokomo, IN

I loved waiting on customers. The only down side was I was not successful at shoe perks. Then managers turned against me. I wished I could have accomplished what they asked of me.

Management pressure was very stressful given the fact that management don’t run register because they are unsuccessful at shoe perks also.

They just don’t want it on record. I was not even supposed to be on register but because of the stores large turnover in employees I was forced to.

1.0

Construction Manager (Former Employee)

5.5.2020, Job Location: Evansville, IN

Backstabbing, Horrible leadership, Constant fear of losing your job. Seems like leaderships only purpose is to discover what you are doing wrong and expose it.

Cost of living in Evansville is low, but their salaries are much lower than industry standards. Bonus is non existent and laughable. If you go to HR to file a formal complaint you might as well resign as you will have a target on your back.

Buddy system culture. Enter at your own risk.

4.0

General Manager (Current Employee)

21.4.2020, Job Location: US

Shoe Carnival is great to work for.

They offer great benefits and retirement plans. The opportunity to advance is there, just may need to be in a bigger market to advance more quickly.

The company operates without debt and is always looking to keep competitive in the ever changing market.

2.0

Asst. Store Manager (Current Employee)

20.4.2020, Job Location: US

Shoe Carnival is a great place for high school or college students to work. As a part time employee, it is a low stress minimum wage job. Depending on your location, they generally work around schedules pretty well.

Before I start, I would like to state that all of the complaints I’m about to list are based on the actions of people outside of the store. (District manager and corporate positions)
In general, I’ve been content with my direct superiors and coworkers in store.

I would not recommend pursuing a full time position here. I currently work as an assistant store manager. I have worked in 3 different shoe carnival locations.

The corporate part of the company shows very little recognition for good work, but gladly scolds the peons below them. I have never worked for a company where the district manager is so uninvolved. He will bark orders over email, but never checks in otherwise. We constantly have our goals raised, while having payroll cut and our tools to accomplish said goals taken away.

Their pay scales are far from competitive. We hire in new employees at minimum wage, very rarely allowing any type of negotiation. From that, yearly reviews happen that can offer raises. I’ve been told multiple times in years past that I received the “maximum amount allowed” on my yearly raise. It was 28 cents. I’m sorry for being ungrateful, but does 28 cents sound like a reward for a year of good work? Not to me.

Now, pay scales for management. The hourly pay caps at 17. That being said, I am considered “overpaid” by most other management, but I only make 14.50. I’ve been with the company for 4 years, and only got raises when I threatened to find a new job. I have never heard of them giving a merit raise unless someone has threatened to quit. It makes it uncomfortable and less special than if merit raises were actually offered on occasion. Compare these numbers to other companies, and it’s not worth the hassle of running a store. I recently applied for the exact same position at a local competitor, and they pay 50,000 salary for the same job.

^I wrote all of the above before the current state of the world happened. I will be leaving the company once this pandemic is over with. They have made it abundantly clear that they do not care about the safety of their employees. Greed would be the best word that I could use to describe the company. It is actually disgusting. I wish I could post this on a more public platform, because there is actually no chance that this review changes a single thing in the hands of shoe carnival’s management.

2.0

Store Associate (Current Employee)

20.4.2020, Job Location: Louisville, KY

The management at my particular store is amazing, very understanding of what we, as employees, can and cannot do and what is a reasonable demand of an employee as opposed to an unreasonable demand. Customer service is something I love to provide and I speak to customers and coworkers as if they were my own friends and family, even customers who are unreasonable. This is only hard when the company is very obsessive about email signups.

I feel as though I am harassing people most often as a cashier because of this, it is outrageous to me that, even when I fully explain the benefits of the program and the customer says 'no' I am pushed to get a yes no matter what and even tricking people into signing up. In my opinion, this is NOT okay and my manager shouldn't be forced to force employees to get sign-ups by his boss and the CEO.

As a cashier, I do not like harassing customers for their personal information and tricking customers into providing it. I absolutely, under no circumstances, should be pressured to do this and this pressuring has never been as extreme as when I've worked here at Shoe Carnival. I understand wanting people to sign up, but you should not have to harass your employees, in turn, to harass customers into giving out their personal information.

It also makes me upset how the website is barely consistent with the stock in our store and I have met many customers who have been extremely confrontational to me over an item that, when they looked online, was said to be in stock only for, when they get to our store, for it to be not in stock. This is the hardest part of my job along with harassing people for their personal info.

The best part of my job is my coworkers and I love all my coworkers as if they were my own family. We all like to work, it would be even more awesome if we were given more hours just to not only organize shoes but clean the store in terms of dust and grime. There's barely any time to do it with the few people working at a given time but our store is very impeccably dirty - ESPECIALLY the carpets which is another reason I am not so happy with the CEO. We have been told our carpets were going to be replaced since I've been working, an entire year.

Our carpets have been extremely dirty and dusty with the promise of replacement yet they still have not been replaced. I never cough or sneeze but at work, I am constantly coughing and sneezing, especially when I'm organizing shoes lower to the ground and have gone through many a pair of khakis due to the dirt on the ground turning the knees of them black.

4.0

Asst. Store Manager (Current Employee)

20.4.2020, Job Location: US

I started working at shoe carnival when I was 19 in 2012. Over the last 8 years, I have enjoyed my time as a cashier, department lead, and ASM.

There is always something to do, leaving very little down time. I love this part about the job because I am constantly occupied which makes each shift fly by. There are many opportunities for advancement and pay increases. Full time employees receive health benefits, and the option for a 401k and stocks.

The only negative thing I can say about working for shoe carnival is the pay. I started out making minimum wage, and have worked my way up little by little since. You are given a yearly review which determines the amount of increase you are to receive. This increase usually does not exceed 25 cents, and that is if you get a perfect review.

The only other times I have received a pay increase is when I got a promotion. Even then it was not as much as I would have hoped for, nor was it what their employees deserve for the amount of work they are expected to do; especially management.

2.0

Store Associate (Current Employee)

17.4.2020, Job Location: San Antonio, TX

Well like any other job it takes some time getting used to. Theres people who are incharge, the managers. And people who want to be in charge, other associates.

Theres is people who socialize with each other while your working and vise versa. Its not a difficult job once you get used to it.

2.0

Store Associate (Current Employee)

16.4.2020, Job Location: Johnson City, TN

Store 346: our GM has been able to get away with anything.

She has called a coworker of mine stupid and other names on several occasions, and treats us like we are nothing. She just says thing completely out of line. I have worked retail almost 4 years now and NEVER had a manager like this. The only part of my job I like is the store manager makes it easier and a few of the other coworkers.

But the GM at store 346 makes the job unbearable. Workplace culture is very uncomfortable because of our GM things she has said and done, just make you want to quit.

1.0

Store Associate (Current Employee)

16.4.2020, Job Location: Springfield, IL

The management refuses to accept any faults on their part and does not care about the safety and life in general of their associates. When you start, you are asked your availability and for some reason they couldn’t get mine right.

The only day I asked off was Tuesday night because of family circumstances and they managed to schedule me every single Tuesday and then make me find a replacement for my shift because it “wasn’t their problem”.

2.0

Store Associate (Current Employee)

16.4.2020, Job Location: Elkhart, IN

I personally have a very good work ethic and On a daily basis I’m staying way past closing in order to make sure the store is looking good for the next day.

Some of the people working here are not the best to work alone side with as there is a lot of drama and pettiness that comes along with this job. Adding to that, there are managers who are very sexist and give guys specifically certain jobs and punishments while the females don’t have to do much work.

There are multiple times that I’ve been yelled at for “standing around” when other employees don’t get yelled at.