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.ft., 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 after 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. (The annual awards are given to stores who score highly enough after 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 shopper criteria is posted in his store’s breakroom and discussions about its details and what the customer expects from the shoe shopping experience are regularly addressed.

“The customers are a lot more educated now, so you have to be ready for those questions on specific products that six, seven years ago they may not have asked,” he offers, adding he stresses greeting incoming customers with a smile within a minute of their entrance. “We go into a lot more detail (with new sales floor personnel). They may shadow others for an extra five days… We want them to see the uniqueness of how all these people use our philosophy on what service looks like.”

During the store’s 2023 Gold Medal shopping experience, the store’s mystery shopper encountered a new, young Brown’s Shoe Fit salesperson. Even so, the salesperson got the job done—the store scored a perfect ‘100’ on the shopping experience.

The Brown’s Shoe Fit Model

Brown’s Shoe Fit Co., management owned with 68 stores across 12 Midwestern states, was founded in Shenandoah, Iowa in 1911 by the late Winifred A. Brown, who started his first store with $1,700 in operating capital. Augustine, one of the managing partners of the limited liability corporation today, declined to disclose his exact ownership stake in the firm. His store career path at Brown’s, however, has taken him from Hobbs, NM and Okmulgee, OK to Liberal, KS before landing at the Fort Collins, CO location, some 65 miles north of Boulder.

The chain prides itself on local ownership and decision-making beneath a corporate umbrella that helps with buying, education, and training. In October, the Brown’s Shoe Fit Co. corporate office will assume responsibility for the banner’s online operations, giving the local operations more time to work and refine their ‘sit and fit’ approach and customer-service models.

“The customers are more educated now, so you have to be ready for questions on specific products that years ago they may not have asked.” - GREG AUGUSTINE

The In-Store Operation

At his Fort Collins store, Augustine stresses the need for a greeting and a smile for every customer walking into the store. “You must have a conversation with them, he says. “You can’t get in a hurry and try to sell them something. We must take time to interview that foot and them on what they think they want and be able to say, ‘This is what you need.’”

Adds Augustine, “We have a large retirement community here in Colorado as well as very active people, so between aging and just hiking and running, it changes the body and the foot over time.”

The biggest change in the Fort Collins’ store in the years since the Covid pandemic has been the rising dominance of the athletic segment in all workplaces, he suggests, citing the greater business setting acceptability to brands such as Hoka, New Balance, Brooks, Johnston & Murphy, and Ecco.

“Comfort casuals and athletic are the two driving forces in our business today,” he offered. “Five to 10 years ago, it was the more outdoor stuff from the likes of Keen, Merrell and Oboz, and those are still great brands for us. But there’s been a change, especially in the last two or three years on the type of product in most demand.”

The shift in fashion trends and need for a relentless focus on customer service and ‘sit and fit’ aside, the biggest challenge for the Brown’s Shoe Fit Co. store in Fort Collins today is the cost of doing business in Colorado.

“[Retail rents] were escalating at a radical rate before Covid,” remembers Augustine. “We thought that there might be a little change in that over time… There have been a handful of big box stores that have closed over the last couple of years, but that hasn’t seemed to adjust the rent factors anywhere.”

As for hiring and retaining employees, “finding people is a challenge,” says Augustine. “We’ve been lucky that we have never been desperate lately since we’ve found these good people and kept them.”

On the marketing side, he says, “It used to be that we could pop some things on Facebook and people would come. That’s changed so much now with so many other things that must be done to keep up with marketing today.”

Up next for this Shoe Dog? Augustine is planning to retire from the business in July 2025. Augustine says he is intensely proud of all the efforts he and staff put in regularly to keep his retail operation and focus on intense customer service humming.

Winners of the 2024 Gold Medal Service Awards for Outstanding Customer Service will be announced in the November/December 2024 issue of Footwear Insight.