Clearance Section: Linear Feet

Measuring Linear Feet by Category

You will measure the total linear feet of merchandise belonging to each category found on Clearance. 

• If the inventory is on a long floor rack, walk the total length of the rack
• If the inventory is on a table, walk the front length of the table
• If the inventory is on multiple shelves, make sure you multiply the length of the space by the number of shelves
• If the inventory is on a round rack, just simply walk around the rack 

How do you measure linear feet?

The most successful and accurate method is to measure by taking small steps heel-to-toe. 

1. Measure your foot (this will be in inches) 
2. Count the number of steps you take 
3. Multiply your steps by the measurement of your foot 
4. Convert total inches into feet 

For example: 

1. Your shoe is 10 inches long 
2. You walk 20 steps down the length of a rack 
3. 10 inches x 20 steps = 200 inches 
4. 200 inches / 12 = 16 feet of inventory 

Practicing at home before you get to the store will make walking this space off much easier when you get to the store! You can practice by pacing the back of your couch, the length of the kitchen counter, the length of the driveway. Getting used to the process of walking, counting steps, and putting the measurements into your phone will greatly help when you get to your visit. 

Often the Clearance inventory will be separated by category (Tops, Bottoms, Dresses, etc) which makes it very easy to measure the linear feet. But, it's also likely you will run into messy racks that have all of the categories shoved together. In these situations, the best strategy will be to measure ALL of the space that has Clearance inventory, step back, and flex some math to assign a percentage of space to each category. 

For example: 

• You encounter Clearance racks that are a jumble of all of the categories 
• Measure the total space for ALL of the Clearance - let's say it's 50 linear feet
• Then assign a % of space to that 50 linear feet for each category that has Clearance 
• For this example, let's say we only see Bottoms, Denim, Dresses, and Tops on Clearance 
• We would take the 50 linear feet and decide what % of that 50 feet each category is taking up 
• If Bottoms were 30% they would have 15 linear feet (50 feet x .30 = 15)
• If Denim was 15% they would have 7.5 linear feet (50 feet x .15 = 15)
• If Dresses were 25% they would have 12.5 linear feet (50 feet x .25 = 12.5)
• If Tops were 30% they would have 15 linear feet (50 feet x .30 = 15)

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