A Somerset shoe company founded in 1825 and still based in Street, known for the Desert Boot, Wallabee and children's school shoes, with about 320 stores in the UK and Ireland.
Clarks designs and sells shoes. It is best known in the UK for children's school shoes, fitted in a range of widths for ages 4 to 12, and around the world for two classic styles: the Desert Boot, launched in 1950 and designed by Nathan Clark, and the Wallabee, introduced in the late 1960s. A newer lifestyle line called Cloudsteppers, marketed for comfort, launched in 2025. The company sells through its own stores, franchise partners and online.
The company counts 1825 as its starting point, when Cyrus Clark moved to a High Street site in Street, Somerset. His younger brother James joined in 1828 and began making slippers from offcuts of sheepskin, and from 1833 the firm traded as C. & J. Clark. The family were Quakers, and in 1863 the local Quaker community helped rescue the business. The Clark family funded projects in Street, including a school, library, theatre, open-air swimming pool and low-cost housing for workers. We did not find a modern mission statement, so the Quaker heritage is the nearest thing we can point to.
Clarks' headquarters is still in Street, Somerset, and a distribution facility opened there in 2005. Next to the head office is Clarks Village, the company's flagship outlet. As at October 2023 it had 320 stores in the UK and Ireland, with franchise stores across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. The Shoemakers Museum opened at The Grange in Street in September 2025, and the company archives are held by the Alfred Gillett Trust. Production moved largely overseas, mainly to Asia, from 2005.
Clarks reports more than 13,000 employees worldwide. Ownership changed in 2020, when a rescue by LionRock Capital ended Clark family control; later reports describe a mix of owners including the Clark family. Its shoes have become part of youth culture, from Mods to Jamaican rude boys and hip-hop fans, and the Desert Boot appeared in the 1979 film Quadrophenia. The company has also faced public criticism over school uniform disputes and a 2021 fire-and-rehire dispute, which shows the pressures on a long-established retailer.
The jobs here are varied. Store staff fit children's shoes, which takes training and care. Head office roles include footwear designers and product developers, buyers, marketing and digital teams, and supply-chain and finance staff, and the distribution centre in Street employs warehouse and logistics workers. If you like design, working with families, or the story of how a product travels from a drawing to a shop shelf, Clarks gives a wide choice, and Somerset offers an alternative to working in London.
Website: www.clarks.co.uk
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