Good as Gold

Customer service is at the heart of what makes independent footwear stores special. The best stores not only know how important customer service is, they also know how to deliver it.

At Footwear Insight, we’ve been honoring the best of the best independent retailers with the Gold Medal Service Award for Outstanding Customer Service annually since 2015. This year, 80 stores have earned a spot on our Gold Medal list. All of these stores not only deliver outstanding service to the shoppers who visit their stores, they are also adept at problem solving, performing under pressure and adjusting to an ever-changing marketplace. Some of these stores are big, some are small. Some have embraced the internet, while others are more old-school. They are all outstanding in their own ways.

The 2022 Gold Medal Service Award winning retailers each have their own “secrets to success,” and on the following pages, we share some of their “Good as Gold” insight. Congratulations to all of the honorees.

This year, the top scoring store on the list is Beck’s Shoes. This fifth generation, family-owned business, led by cousins Julia-Beck Gomez and Adam Beck, is combining a forward-looking strategy with a true appreciation of family legacy. Read our story about Beck’s here.

Special kudos also go to Wesley’s Shoes, whose outstanding score put them at a very close second on this year’s list. See the full list of 2022 Gold Medal Service Award winning retailers here.

Each store that earns a spot on Footwear Insight’s Gold Medal Service Award list is screened and then “mystery shopped,” with only those earning a score of 70 or above making the Gold Medal list. See the criteria for our mystery shoppers here.

This year, 22 stores earned our Gold Medal award for the first time. Congratulations to the freshman class!

See Full List of Gold Medal Service Award Winners