Catherine Harrington
Catherine H. is a seasoned retail leader whose career in the industry spans over 30 years and reflects a remarkable journey of growth, strategic impact, and team empowerment. She currently serves as Store Manager at San Antonio Shoemakers (SAS) in Houston, Texas, where she has been driving consistent comp increase and elevating client engagement for over a decade. Catherine’s leadership centers on building deep customer relationships, implementing effective grassroots marketing initiatives, and fostering a high‑performance, customer‑centric team culture that delivers measurable results. Her track record of exceptionally low return rates, multi‑pair transaction growth, and retention of top talent underscores her ability to achieve sustained success within competitive retail environments.
Catherine’s retail journey began in the early 1990s when she started as a part‑time associate at Paul Harris, quickly advancing to Store Manager within six months. She was later recruited by The Limited Corporation and then joined Wet Seal Contempo Casuals, where she managed the number one Quad A store at North Star Mall in San Antonio and became a District Manager within a year, overseeing markets in Fort Lauderdale and beyond. Her subsequent tenure at The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. as a Counter Manager and Talent Developer further strengthened her retail strategy and team-building skills. Catherine also gained valuable experience with Chico’s FAS, Inc. and White House Black Market, broadening her expertise in operational efficiency, account management, and cross-functional collaboration.
Throughout her career, Catherine has remained committed to developing talent and driving results. At SAS, a Texas‑based, American‑owned company founded in 1976 and known for its handcrafted comfort footwear and accessories, she has not only led her own store to sustained success but also traveled nationally to recruit, hire, and train new leaders across markets from Illinois to Massachusetts. Catherine briefly explored a high-level leadership role with Chanel overseeing three departments, but she returned to SAS because she values a stable, supportive environment where she can truly develop people and help them reach their full potential. Her professional philosophy emphasizes that while compensation is important, the greatest fulfillment comes from mentoring others and building strong, enduring teams, a commitment that defines her legacy in retail leadership.
• Certified Makeup Artist
• Associate's Degree from Junior College (1994)
• March Madness Award at SAS Shoes (2024)
• Best Wage Cost of the Year at Chico's (1996-1997)
• Awards - SAS March Maddness Award and #1 Best wage Cost of the Year at Chico's
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to working hard and being organized, but most importantly, being self-motivated to want to be good at what I do. That's really what drives me - me and my team. It's a very strong desire to want to be the best, and to have the team recognized. I've never had to see my name in flashing lights or anything like that. I don't need trophies. It's also about who you work for. As long as I am working with leadership where there's mutual trust and respect, that's the main basis of it. If I go somewhere unsteady, like Chanel, it's very hard to be your best on unshaky ground with people that don't trust you. With SAS, there's a lot of respect. I've always wanted to do very well and be recognized as doing very well. In retail, you see your competition on paper every single week, whether it's the other people in your department or the other stores, the rankings. And it hurts if you're not in the top 2 or 3, or number 1 every week. That bothers me, I don't like that. It's just something I'm born with, I guess.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I've had many mentors over the years, all of which have made a huge impact on me and my career. I've worked with some really heavy hitters that developed me - CEOs like Cindy Murray of Chico's, Dave Dyer of the Wet Seal Organization who later went to Tommy Hilfiger and developed that brand before going to Chico's, and Edmund Thomas and Barbara Deborah Bachman. These weren't just bosses - they were leaders who singled me out for recognition, came to my store for meetings, and we even rolled out red carpets for Dave Dyer. I have photos of us dancing on yachts, cards and letters from birthdays, and recognition from when I hit top numbers as a district manager. Those experiences with those high-caliber CEOs and leaders, and having that recognition where I was singled out, shaped who I am today. The best awards I have are just working with the people that shaped me.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is probably working with a budget and getting things financially approved. Because it's a privately owned company, getting financial approvals can be a challenge. For example, I was working on getting us some advertising in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, as well as being a small sponsor for the Houston Astros, which would have gotten us a lot more exposure. Business is down everywhere, and traffic is down - or I should say traffic fluctuates now. We haven't been able to put our thumb on traffic patterns in several years now, unless you're running a big sale or you're an Ulta putting tons of money into advertisement and social media. I couldn't get a $6,000 banner for the Astros that would have been hanging in their arena for 12 weeks approved, even though just 2 years ago we sponsored the fourth hole at the U.S. Open at Memorial City Golf Course for $90,000. It's a small company, and when they're in the mood to do it, they'll do it. The other challenge is being more globally recognized and capturing that younger customer. We need to start capturing the younger demographics because our senior customers are aging. If you go to our website and look at the shoes, it does have an older look. It's tough to persuade someone who wants to wear Michael Kors into wearing a pair of ours. Our social media isn't as impressive as it could be. We've made suggestions in roundtable meetings with the CEO and the two owners, but they're just gonna run things the way they want to run things, and that's okay. They don't want to be like everyone else either. They're a very unique company, very Texas, very slow - it still has like a 1980s feel to it.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are honesty, transparency, and trust. I don't necessarily think that trust has to be earned - I think that you can give trust right away until you have a reason not to trust someone. Caring and consideration are also essential. Collaborating with the team and getting their input is another way of building trust. Everyone has that desire to want to be heard and recognized, and I'll go with their ideas until we can't go with them anymore, and then we'll sit down and talk about why we can't go with your idea. Or I'll let it play out, even if it means taking a hit on business for the day. I'll say, okay, we're gonna do it your way, let's try it this way today, and let them see the results. We celebrate the wins and discuss the things that didn't work, and then change it the next day. What I really like is seeing people develop to their full potential. We're not in there curing cancer - it's just retail - but you get the feeling of winning or losing, of being a teammate, and the victory of being a champion when you hit those big targets. When everyone is there and you get that feedback from them the next day, like 'I stayed open an extra 30 minutes so that we could get one or two more people in the door,' that's when you know you've instilled those values as a team.