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Photo by Ingrid Schnader.
Laura Player, owner of Sikes Children’s Shoes and the Jack n’ Jill Shop, said the business’ new location will have better parking, more accessible restrooms and dressing rooms, a central point of sale and more space for merchandise.
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Photo courtesy of Laura Player.
Original owner Fred Sikes puts a shoe on his grandson, Eddie, in a photo published in Footwear News in January 1965.
Since the 1950s, Sikes Children’s Shoes and the Jack n’ Jill Shop have been staple shopping destinations on 18th Street.
When Sikes opened on Valentine’s Day in 1955, it was a one-story building, and Jack n’ Jill was originally across the street. After Sikes moved into the two-story building next door, Fred Sikes approached the owner of Jack n’ Jill and convinced him to move his shop next door. They put an entryway between the two shops, which would help guide shopping moms from the children’s shoes to the clothing and vice versa.
At the end of 2020, the shop announced it would be closing its historic 18th Street location. The store operated at a temporary spot on 18th Place through March, and in April, it plans to open its location in a new building at 2719 19th Place S.
Laura Player started working at Sikes when she was a student at Homewood High School 30 years ago, and in 2014, she became the owner of the two stores. She said there were some issues with the setup in the former location: for example, a customer shopping for both shoes and clothing would have to have the purchases rung up as two separate transactions. That customer couldn’t shop at both stores simultaneously. So when the Sikes and Jack n’ Jill leases expired at the end of 2020, Player made the decision to move to a new building.
The clothing and the shoes will all be under the same roof, but there will be an entrance for the shoe store and an entrance for the clothing store. In the middle of the room will be a cash register, and customers can walk freely from one side of the store to the other.
The new store will also have restrooms and dressing rooms compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. These amenities wouldn’t have been possible at the former building without gutting it out, which is another one of the big reasons for the move, Player said.
A large perk of the new building is more parking availability for shoppers. There will be a parking lot in the back with a rear entrance into the store, and there will also be some front street parking. The former store had a smaller parking lot that was shared with a few other merchants.
“It was hard to get in and out with the kids and the strollers,” she said. “This will be easier for the moms.”
“The store will also have better flow,” Player said. “We were crowded in our old store.”
Sikes has a reputation for having the best shoe selection for children in the South, she said. Some customers are in the fourth or fifth generation of shopping there.
“It’s really cool because wherever you go, if you mention you own the store, they’ll say, ‘Oh my gosh, I grew up there!’” she said. “One thing we’re going to continue to do in this store is provide that same tradition and service to our customers like we always have. Just because we’re in a new building doesn't mean we’re going to change the model of how we do things.”
One tradition that isn’t going anywhere: babies will still get a photo taken with their first pair of shoes. This formerly was done with Polaroids, Player said, but now they use a digital camera and print and frame it for the customer.
Player expects to stay at the temporary location through Easter and then open the new building the next Saturday, April 10. Follow the store on Instagram for updates at @sikesshoesandjacknjillshop or visit the website at sikesshoes.com.
