Not the OP, but maybe these numbers? 18000 Payless employees in 2017 [1] ~50000 in mining industry [2], ~10000 in extraction [3] in 2017. So it's probably no

Not the OP, but maybe these numbers? 18000 Payless employees in 2017 [1] ~50000 in mining industry [2], ~10000 in extraction [3] in 2017. So it's probably not true that it's more than the entire coal mining industry. But, more than the number of actual coal miners? Possibly. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payless_ShoeSource https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payless_ShoeSource [2] https://www.bls.gov/oes/2017/may/naics4_212100.htm https://www.bls.gov/oes/2017/may/naics4_212100.htm [3] https://www.bls.gov/oes/2017/may/naics4_212100.htm#47-0000 https://www.bls.gov/oes/2017/may/naics4_212100.htm#47-0000