Why children's shoe shops are disappearing, and why that matters so much

In the past fortnight, two much-loved independent children's shoe shops have announced they're closing: Little Brogues in Kendal and Stampede in Tunbridge Wells. Both well established, well regarded and so clearly care about the families they serve.

Behind each announcement is an owner who has poured their heart and soul into their business for years, and a community of parents who are losing somewhere they trusted.

Sadly, they aren't alone. In recent years we've seen Merlin in Crystal Palace, Biff in Dulwich Village, Hoads in Sevenoaks and Jump Shoes in Newcastle close their doors, to name just a few. Happy Feet in Cromer has moved almost entirely to women's footwear. Russell & Bromley closed its children's department several years ago and has now closed altogether. Even the big chains, including Clarks, are shutting stores up and down the country.

The numbers back up what we’re hearing. Property analysts Green Street reported that more than 1,000 shoe shops have closed since 2020. And research from Simply Business published this year named shoe shops the most endangered independent business on the British high street, predicting they could disappear altogether by 2037.

Why are children's shoe shops closing?

There's no single reason. After more than a decade in this industry, I see several pressures arriving at once.

The cost of keeping the doors open. Rent, business rates, energy and staff costs keep rising, on top of the overheads that come with any physical shop. A children's shoe shop also needs space, a wide range of sizes and widths, to cater to different tastes, and trained fitters. That's a lot to carry when margins are tight.

The shift online. Online shoe shopping was growing long before the pandemic, but Covid accelerated it. With shops shut, parents were handed home measuring gauges, apps and printable charts, and many have carried on ever since, believing they can fit their children's shoes themselves.

An industry that drifted from fitting. For years, much of the industry has prioritised fashion and sales over expert advice and foot health. Trusted fitting services have been getting harder to find for a long time. The pandemic simply widened a gap that was already there.

Busy family life. Getting a toddler, a pushchair and possibly a sibling to a shoe shop, then waiting your turn on a Saturday, isn't quick or easy. Parents understandably want things to fit around their lives.

Careful spending. With the cost of living remaining high, families are thinking hard about every purchase. It's tempting to go for the cheaper pair or the quick online order.

What this means for children's feet

When a fitting service disappears, families don't stop buying shoes. They just lose the expert help to get it right.

This week alone, I fitted three children whose current shoes were at least two sizes too small. Their parents genuinely thought they were fine. That isn't carelessness; it's what happens when nobody has ever explained what to look for.

Measuring at home is much harder than it looks:

• Most tools only measure length, but a shoe needs to fit the whole foot: its width, depth and shape.

• Wriggly toddlers curl their toes, making an accurate measurement almost impossible.

• Sizing varies hugely between brands and even between styles from the same brand.

• Buying a size up so shoes last longer can cause as many problems as shoes that are too small.

• Children can't reliably tell you whether shoes feel right. Their feet are still developing and they'll happily squeeze into a pair they love.

  
  

Then there's the shoes themselves. Too many children's shoes are designed for looks rather than for growing feet. Narrow toe boxes are the norm simply because that's what we’ve come to accept as ‘normal’. Many shoes are rigid or heavily cushioned. And mini versions of adult styles, such as Converse, Vans, Nike trainers, cowboy boots and ballet pumps, are bought because they're cute, without parents realising what they may be doing to developing feet.

The emergence of barefoot shoes onto the market has done a great deal to raise awareness, and for many children they're a brilliant choice. But every child is an individual, with needs that change as they grow, so there's no one-size-fits-all answer. And a barefoot shoe that doesn’t fit properly is no better than any other ill-fitting shoe. That's exactly why expert assessment matters.

The consequences of getting it wrong can last a lifetime. Ill-fitting shoes in childhood are linked to bunions, crossed toes, hammer toes and collapsed arches. The effects reach beyond the feet too, affecting muscle development, joint alignment, posture, balance and the way a child walks. 

Podiatrist Ivan Bristow, at the University of Southampton, warned an estimated 70% of adult foot problems begin during childhood. A College of Podiatry survey of 2,000 parents in 2017 found that nearly 30% of children were wearing shoes that were completely the wrong size, and 56% of parents had bought shoes without having their children's feet measured.

This is the thing that really gets me! No parent would think of checking their child's eyesight or teeth themselves. We take them to an optician and a dentist, there's clear national guidance telling us to. Yet our feet carry us through every single day of our lives, and children's foot health gets almost no attention at all. If people end up with painful feet as adults, it's through no fault of their own. Nobody warned their parents about the dangers of getting it wrong.

Demand hasn't gone away. The model needs to change.

There is hope. Shoe shops may be closing, but parents' need for expert advice is as strong as ever.

I see it every week. Families travel a considerable distance to come to me, or time a fitting around a visit to relatives nearby, just so they can feel confident their children are in the right shoes. That isn't a market in decline. It's a market waiting for the right service to reach it.

I started CeCe & Me more than a decade ago because I was that parent. I couldn't find the advice I wanted when buying shoes for my little ones, so I retrained and built the service I wished existed. Instead of asking busy families to come to a shop, we go to them: to playgroups, nurseries, cafés and community spaces, and to their homes.

It's a model built for modern family life:

• Relaxed and easy. Fittings happen where families already are, at a pace that suits small children.

• Free fitting checks. There’s no charge for fittings and never any pressure to buy.

• Expert and trusted. Every fitter completes our CPD-accredited training, so parents get advice they can rely on.

• Sustainable to run. Without the rent, rates and overheads of a shop, and with a clear focus on children in the early years of development, the business can thrive where a shop might struggle.

  
  

And it makes sense for families watching their budgets, too. Rather than buying several cheap pairs that don't fit well, many parents choose to invest in one really good pair and save elsewhere, such as on second-hand clothes. A properly fitted shoe is money well spent.

The results speak for themselves. For the year to September 2026, our network fitted more than 3,000 children across five locations, two of them running full time and three part time. And this year, CeCe & Me was named Independent Footwear Retailer of the Year at the Drapers Footwear Awards 2026. The judges, from across the footwear industry, praised our innovative retail model and customer-first approach, and the way we're rethinking footwear retail by taking fittings into the heart of local communities.

Could you be the answer in your area?

Every time a children's shoe shop closes, a community is left without expert help. In towns across the country, parents are now asking where they can go. I believe the answer is a trusted local fitter, someone who knows the families in their area and brings the service to them.

That person could be you.

Our franchisees come from all kinds of backgrounds. They’re parents who care about children's wellbeing and their community, and want a business that fits around family life. You don't need footwear experience. Our CPD-accredited training gives you the expertise, and you'll have the support of a proven model and a community of like-minded women who've been where you are.

It takes hard work and commitment, but you won't be starting from scratch or figuring it all out alone.

If you've been looking for meaningful work that makes a real difference to children's health and gives you flexibility, I'd love to talk.

Book a relaxed, no-commitment discovery call  and let's explore whether CeCe & Me could be right for you, and your area.