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Comment by user5994461 | Hacker News Reader

I don't know what kind of stores you are used to but there is usually only one shoe on display. All the pairs are kept in the back of the store, you cannot try anything without help from the salesperson.

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Must be a location thing. I've never been to a store selling <$100 shoes (the kind the OP was shopping for) that didn't have all or most of its inventory on the shelves. For higher-end stores, yes the space is often devoted to display with inventory "in the back", but I was just at a mall Sketchers a few months ago and found my shoes myself with no problem. Same with my department store shoe sections.

Replying here--yeah, the stores inside shopping malls typically lack the real estate to have all the shoes available in the main store and, instead, keep them in a stock room in the back. I've definitely been to both types; but, the mall stores are almost always the "pick a display shoe and have a salesperson bring your size."

I'm not much of a shoe person, but I have literally never been to or heard of a place like this.

Including places like Modells, Macy's, Payless, Sports Authority, etc etc etc

Perhaps it's a cultural difference? Every shoe store I've been to in my whole life is like the parent poster mentioned: there's one pair of each model on display behind glass, and the salesperson goes to the back to get the boxes in your size.

Definitely a cultural difference, and I'm intrigued about this approach. I used to work the shoe department at K-Mart and spent most of my time cleaning up after people who tried shoes on and just left them in the middle of the aisle, or trashed the boxes getting them open (how???), or tossed their old shoes in the box and walked out wearing a brand new pair.

Maybe not as consumer-friendly as what I'm used to, but it sounds heavenly from the employee standpoint.

What are you talking about? If a store were to keep every size of each shoe for public display they would have space to show about four types of shoe. Every shoe store since the beginning of time keeps almost all stock in the back.

In most of Europe, at least in the part of it where I've lived, you have both types of stores. If the store has a separate back, you only 1-2 sizes of each model on display. If the store doesn't or it's too small, you have 1-2 sizes on display next to a more or less organized pile of shoe boxes.

I think the main reason for either is whether the store is built one way or another.

It depends on the store. Some only have display shoes, others have display shoes and sized pairs below them. Generally, the more upscale the store (or the more likely goods are to be stolen) the more likely it is that shoes will be kept in back.

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