A Step Forward Shoes

This store has much more than shoes. I come all the way over to Oakland to purchase the latest European Fashion Coats and tops. Ulla, the proprietress has great taste and is very helpful finding the right size. I bought my first pair of Skechers shoes there– she carries unusual and hard to find shoes. I hope to visit there once a month.

I am a shoe and scarf addict! I love the selection of boots and comfy/​cute shoes here. This is the only place in the area I have seen ‘Sacha London’ shoes, which are super cute and comfy. I would give a 4.5 stars if they let me do halfsies, only because I wear 7.5, and they can sometimes be sold out of my size. I let myself buy a scarf every month or so and this is by far the best selection I’ve seen. I frequently get comments on the scarfs I wear. I have bought a few dresses here too that are great day to night wear and comfortable. I also like the ‘Urban Oxide’ bags they carry. The people there are very friendly and helpful.

This shop is SUCH a buried treasure. It seems small when you walk by, but they manage to fit an impressive amount of merchandise into the space and have clothing and all kinds of accessories (bags, belts, scarves, tights, jewelry, etc.) in addition to shoes. They’re like a mini-​department store without all the inconvenience and homogeneity. These ladies have filled my work wardrobe with attractive, distinctive dresses that are so comfortable I feel like I’m still in my pajamas, and I’ve found some gorgeous cocktail dresses and jackets here as well. Their clothing is very unique and never fails to garner compliments. It’s the shoes, though — THE SHOES! — that have been the most amazing find. I’ve always found it nearly impossible to find comfortable work and dress shoes that don’t look frumpy, so now that I’ve found their selection of shoes that are both good to your feet AND fashionable, I don’t go anywhere else. I love being able to shop locally, and their amazing quality, service and prices make it more than worthwhile.

I love this store!
I can’t seem to stop buying scarves and this store is scarf Nirvana. They have a large selection of beautiful and unique scarves, shawls and wraps in a variety of styles and price ranges.
Because this small store is bursting at the seams (with bins full of scarves and accessories, and things hanging in rows from the ceiling), it would be easy to assume that it’s full of cheap trendy clothing and junk. But you couldn’t be more wrong — in addition to the lovely aforementioned scarves, they sell really cute, high-​quality shoes, gorgeous purses and unusual clothing for women who are looking to stand out a little bit from the crowd for a reasonable price. You can really tell that a lot of care goes into each item that is selected for the store.
Additionally, they always seem to have a sale going, and the last time I was in there, they even let me combine their Unilocal coupon with their «buy one, get one half price» sale so I got an extra sweet deal.
And did I mention that there was cake and hot apple cider too? Adorable.

A great local store. Always find what I want and owners are incredibly helpful. Comfort and style. Great sales.

You wouldn’t know from the sidewalk, but A Step Forward has great shoes, including several brands available at Nordstrom. I’ve bought a few pairs there, including the pair of Born shoes (on clearance!) that drew me into the store in the first place. Stocked with a variety of quality shoes, many of which are comfortable (I’m done hurting my feet), A Step Forward is a great, neighborhood alternative to department stores.

I buy new Dansko (clogs) every couple of years for work so when I found out this store carries them I was delighted.
However, this year I wanted to go with a funkier style as I always settle for black. Turns out, you should always stick with what works best as the new style was so uncomfortable and I wasn’t going to suck it up just for the look (typical me would would’ve sucked it up for looks).
I was kind of nervous to go back and make an exchange as I had already passed the exchange grace period. When I went back, the ladies were so understanding and didn’t hassle me for exchanging or what so ever. I left happier than a kid in a candy store.
Now, that’s how you gain loyal customers people!
P.s they also carry jewelry, clothes and a whole bunch of other goodies and you get a birthday discount too Oooh yeaaahhhh!
Check them out!

This is not just a shoes store, they have sooooo much more. I came upon this store while walking down piedmont ave. and I have to say what a find. Not only do they have great shoes. They have just about everything else I could have wanted for my Christmas shopping trip. I bought my daughter a dress, a scraf, and some jewelry. and a few thing for myself. Great selection, good prices. a must see for everyone. If you are not sure what to get that hard to shop for person in your life. Stop into A step forward shoes. YOU will find just the right gift. For them, or yourself. OH and the staff was very helpful. and super nice.

Their selection in larger sizes (10 – 11 and up) is pretty lacking. I spent about 10 minutes hunting around for flat or low-​heeled maryjanes in an 11 and there were all of 2 or 3 options. It’s also hard to navigate around this crowded shop. I don’t see much reason to come back.

Some of my favorite little things come from this store. It’s easy to pop in and find one or two unique items that are not so terribly costly. If you need an inexpensive gift, I’m pretty sure you can find something here. A Step Forward is definitely the scarf haven of Oakland. They have a zillion nice scarves. Some of the clothes are not the finest made, but then, the prices are not high at all. The shoes are affordable and they carry a terrific assortment of Uggs, Bjorn, and little attractive flats. On your birthday, you can get a big discount off your purchase. It’s a fun place to check out.

I’ve shopped here several times, I really like the selection of unusual things you can get. It’s a little hard when they are crowded because it is a packed store, but if you can get in when it’s quiet, the staff are friendly and helpful and you’ll find some treasures.

I have been here several times and purchased everything BUT shoes. That all changed recently. My s/​o had to stop by the comic store on piedmont, so I took a peek in ASF.
I tried on a pair of super comfy maryjane style shoes that I had to own. The sales person was super sweet answering my questions and bringing me shoes that were in the display window. I love my shoes and I also love that they were on sale!

Warning: Hide your credit card!
Excellent selection of stylish comfort shoes, including the most heavenly shoes I’ve ever owned, a pair of girly Dansko sandals. I could have very well snagged another four pairs, but at $ 115 a pop my credit card would have literally shrieked.
The two ladies were very helpful and catered to me hand and foot, running to get this and that and offering recommendations.
Can’t wait till my credit card stops smoking so I can grab another pair!

The store has changed a little since my last review. While my rating of A Step Forward hasn’t gone down, there are some differences that I’ve noticed.
For one, this is still a great place to shop for and buy shoes that you are likely to wear a whole lot, especially if you wear comfort brands like Indigo by Clarks, Born, Keen or others like Bare Traps. Three or four pairs of my most frequently worn every day shoes come from A Step Forward — probably because they do carry the comfort brands and their prices are compelling.
Because the selection of styles per size is relatively small, I find that the best strategy for buying shoes at this store is to stop by every few weeks to see what they have. If you’re visiting this store trying to find a specific shoe, that might not work so well. But if you have a general type of shoe in mind to buy and you visit frequently, you do get satisfaction after a few visits.
I have noticed that since the recession hit, they carry fewer colors of most shoe styles here. There are exceptions (especially with summer sandals), but for the most part the shoes you find here are going to be either black or brown with an occasional white or silver or red or oxblood thrown in.
They have a nice selection of hats and a pretty okay selection of socks that changes seasonally. In truth, I never look at their clothes (which are, admittedly, always cute)… I am hard to fit (petite and busty), which never seems to mesh with the sizes they have in stock.
My advice? If you live in the neighborhood, stop in every 3 or 4 weeks to look at and try on shoes if you need them.

I went into this store for the first time today. I bought a Groupon, which was well worth it. They have a great selection of shoes, clothes and jewelry. I was super impressed with the selection they have. I can’t believe it took me this long to check this store out. And the staff was very friendly and helpful. And, they specifically have a «welcome Grouponers» outside! How cool is that!

Alyssa is great… I come here because of her and her customer service.

I am updating this review to say that in recent months this store is just a trashy mess. I hate it now.

After my feldenkrais practitioner told me to lose the four inch heels in order to help out with my knee issue I vowed to review my shoe situation.
Hmm, uncomfortable heels purchased on sale, check. Super hot but toe binding strappy sandals, check. Unsupportive but really cute (sounds like my last boyfriend) flats, check. Time to go buy some new shoes and I even had a valid reason!
I headed over to A Step Forward. They have brands like Dansko, Born, Simple, and Sofft that, along with being supportive and comfortable are (gasp!), really cute. The sales gals were super helpful and didn’t mind that I ended up blocking an aisle (it’s a kinda crowded store) while trying on just about everything. Although I didn’t completely eschew anything with a heel, I ended up with several pairs that I can actually wear to work but also walk in — a major triumph!
Their return policy is fairly stringent so make sure you love what you buy. It wasn’t a problem for me!

In between my sauna appointment at Piedmont Springs and grabbing dinner at Piedmont Grocery, I purchased the sassiest pair of red patent leather pumps I have ever seen! What outfit do I have to wear with these sexy heels? I have no idea. Maybe I don’t even need an outfit. These shoes carry themselves and I could easily wear them with nothing else!
I’ve purchased several pairs of shoes here and they are as cute and comfortable as can be. I know I’ve lost the gentlemen reading this (if they bother to read a review of a woman’s shoe store in the first place), but the ladies understand what a find it is to have both comfort and cute. This place has both qualities in their footwear.
Now, all I have to do is find an outfit to wear with my red shoes. Or not.

WOW
I bought a couple hundred dollars worth of shoes from here a year ago when I lived around the corner, and it was a fun and pleasant experience.
SO much so, that I thought to bring my momma to get her first pair of Danskos. Won’t that be fun– the nice people here will for sure initiate her into the near cultish love of the clog…
NOT!!!
What absolute douchieness!
This chick… hands my mom a shoe box and walks away!
When we track her down for a different size, she brings us that, and walks away!
Guess what– I ask for the split open Dansko model (because when I went previously, they used it to SELL me the shoes) and I’m trying to explain to my mom about her arches, her heel, the fit. And the girl walked away.
And I realized, I don’t know if they have a commission system, but this salesgirl obviously didn’t care enough to be even remotely helpful, so why would we just give them a hundred and fifty dollar sale!!!
When we walked out, the girl was too ‘busy’ with another customer to even wave. It’s cool homefry– we let ourselves out.
Won’t shop here again.
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update 11÷30÷07
So I got one of those elusive emails from a shop owner. Thank god it was not a cursing-me-out-we-don’t-want-business-from-people-like-you emails, because that would hurt my feelings– eek!
This owner seemed pretty cool, and just wanted to clarify that my experience was hopefully an exception to the rule of customer service standards they try to have in the shop.
So (without being asked) I would like to make an amendment to my review, saying that the girl who helped me was a douche, and maybe she doesn’t even work there anymore…
I fully agree with the rest of the reviews here that you can safely walk in on any day and find some fun sparkly nobody-​else-​has-​it kind of item… and from what I understand now from the owner, they truly want you to enjoy shopping there.