Despite 'hating' feet, Mary-Ann Price tells Jaine Blackman why helping customers find the ultimate in comfortable shoes is truly satisfying

Shoe store manager and company managing director Mary-Ann Price has a bit of a confession to make: “I HATE feet.”

However, as a customer you’d never know it, she has a lovely friendly manner and says she doesn’t mind them on a professional basis.

That’s just as well because she’s been helping people find the best style and fit for half her life – 21 years.

“It doesn’t bother me at work but if my husband puts his feet on me I die a death,” says Mary-Ann, who lives in East Hanney with hubby Tony. And even daughter Molly, 10, is out of luck if she wants a foot rub from mum.

So it’s rather surprising that Mary-Ann is more than happy with what she does for a living.

“I have beyond job satisfaction on a daily basis,” says Mary-Ann, who heads Macsamillion’s newly-opened Foot Foundation in Oxford’s Old Covered Market.

“It’s the best feeling in the world to help someone and make their life a little bit easier.”

She and her colleagues do that by selling “healthy footwear” to either ease or prevent problems with feet, joints and posture.

They provide old-school style customer service... using all the latest technology.

“Just selling shoes doesn’t cut it any more. “People come to us for help and understanding, they want and need more service than just buying an ill-fitting pair of shoes,” says Mary-Ann.

In a time when high street retailers are feeling the squeeze from online sales, the Foot Foundation bucks the trend. It is an expansion of the Macsamillion company which has sold footwear in the market for 40 years, and also has women’s and men’s outlets there.

Mary-Ann has been with the firm for more than two decades after leaving the licensing trade, where she was Morland’s youngest ever relief manager, tired of the unsociable – and very long – hours.

“I wanted a simple life – nine to five, do a good job and go home,” she says.

But she wasn’t cut out to be responsibility-free. In 18 months she was the men’s manager and buyer and 12 years ago she opened the women’s store as manager and buyer.

After maternity leave she took on the role of boot store buyer and manager and five years ago did a full circle and went back to men’s. In the meantime, she also became managing director of the company.

It was during her time back selling men’s shoes that Macsamillion began “lots of research into specialist fit”.

It lead to an area within one of its stores being dedicated to Foot Foundation; then a smaller unit was taken and now it’s moved into larger premises opposite the women’s shoe store.

“Our aim is to fit people out with healthy footwear with style and quality and offer a unique instore fitting experience,” says Mary-Ann (see panel).

But does she always practise what she preaches? Mary-Ann tells how a couple of years ago, after three days wearing ballet slipper type shoes she noticed one of her toes had noticeably “moved”. She wore Birkenstock sandals for two weeks in winter to sort the problem out and vowed she’d “never wear unhealthy shoes again”.

She’s realistic that daughter Molly will sometimes want to wear shoes with more style than substance but hopes she can steer her towards just putting them on for special occasions rather than every day wear. After all, she’s seen the fallen arches and bunions and other problems which can occur if feet aren’t looked after.

She thinks she’s been lucky with her own feet which took a bit of punishment over the years: she started dancing as a child and carried on into her mid teens, winning championships and appearing yearly in pantomime (“my first was with Russ Abbot in Cinderella when I was eight”).

Now Mary-Ann and her colleagues help out those who haven’t been so fortunate.

There’s the occasional occupational hazard of smelly feet, which calls for latex gloves during the appointment and handwash after, but it’s clear they are women (they’ve found in general female customers prefer another woman for appointments and men don’t seem to care) who enjoy their mission.

“One of the best things is everyone who works here loves their jobs,” says Mary-Ann. “It makes it a pleasure to come in every day.” Even if it does mean facing feet.