Payless Shoes - closing all 2100 US stores

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’ve bought my shoes at Payless since elementary school. It’s the only shoe store I’ve ever used.

Who buys shows online? I would never buy shoes without trying them on. I will never buy shoes online.

I guess JC Penney will be my new shoe store. That’s where I buy my clothes.

Yeah, I know… Internet shopping is killing them too. They also have a very nice online store that ships fast.

I have a lifetime of memories at Payless Shoes. I got a fresh pair of shoes every August before school started. My kids shoes were bought there. Yet another piece of my life gone. :frowning:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/15/business/payless-closing-stores-bankrupt/index.html

2

I didn’t realize there were that many left, actually. They used to be in every little city and town, but all the nearby ones I know about have been gone at least half a decade.
ETA: My wife informs me there’s one in the nearby mall still open, so apparently I wasn’t paying enough attention. Of course now, I’ll pay less.

3

I like DSW as a bricks-and-mortar shoe store. They carry overstock and last year’s models of shoes. The shoes come from a large assortment of brand names and their prices are low(ish).

4

That is sad. But I’m probably part of the problem. I buy all my clothes/shoes online. I know my size, and hate, hate hate hate ‘shopping’. Very worth it to me to get the occasional dud.

5

I checked and the Payless store in my small hometown is still open. Been at the same location since the mid 1960’s.

I guess my last visit was in the 1980’s during a trip home from college.

There several Payless stores in my city.

6

Don’t think that I’ve ever set foot (get it?) in a specific “shoe store.” My shoes have always came from the shoe section of big box store (Wal-Mart, K-Mart, TG&Y, Sky City.)

7

Loads of people, obviously. That’s why the brick and mortar stores are closing.

And online shoe retailers are very good at what they do. Zappos, for instance, lists a lot of measurements/dimensions for every model they sell, along with crowd-sourced fit reviews (conforms to size expectations or not). And they make returning items very easy, so if you’re unsure of what size to get, order both, try them on, and send one back.

8

Exactly. And return shipping is free. Unless you have some strange condition, why in the world wouldn’t you buy online? It’s especially convenient if you have a brand and style that you like.

9

Around here, the shoe department inside the big box store is/was Payless Shoes. At least at Shopko. Which is also closing.

10

I have long, narrow, jacked-up dancers feet. I don’t think I’ve ever bought shoes at a Payless. Maybe a pair of flipflops, once. The one I used to walk by has been gone. There’s another store there, ShoeShow, I think. It looks to have the same inventory.

11

I knew that Shopko wasn’t doing well (they’re based in my hometown), but I hadn’t realized that they filed for bankruptcy, and announced last week that they’re closing 70% of their stores. Doesn’t look good for them at all.

12

It seems all of them in this area are closing. Shopko was my only choice for many, many years before Walmart rolled into the area.

13

Why would I wait for something to be delivered to me, and possibly pay shipping, and then if it’s wrong or poor quality I have to go through the whole rigamarole all over again?

I can drive to my favorite store just a couple miles away, buy my shoes, and be back home in less than an hour. Now that’s convenience.

14

I usually try on three or four shoes before deciding on one that fits and looks good.

It’s not an item that I can pick out on a web page.

I’m the same with shirts. I like to try them on first before deciding.

15

People have different preferences. Some like to shop at 2:00 a.m. on their iPad. Some like to drive to a store when it’s open. Neither way is “better.” I go a third way. It takes me about 90 minutes to get to Nordstrom’s to get my shoes. I do it about once a year. I’d rather do that then go to Payless or shop online.

16

Some folks don’t live close to any stores. I do online shopping a bunch because where I live it’s a big trip to do any shopping. I try to consolidate all my needs in one trip as much as possible. And I have an small problem with the idea of trying on shoes that some other feet may have been in. I know it’s all in my head but it’s one of my phobias. I don’t fault the regular people trying on shoes. It’s just me. I can pretend the shoes I buy online have no germs in them.

17

How do you feel about renting bowling shoes?

:smiley:

18

As said, some people live far away from good stores. But also, online shopping gives you more options than many stores. For example, Zappos has seventeen types of ECCO (a brand of men’s shoes) loafers in size 9. Meanwhile the department stores might have two or three types.

19

I do. At least I buy all my Skechers online. I have yet to be disappointed.

If the time comes that I need nicer shoes, I’ll go to a shoe store, but that day my never come.

Regardless, the few times I shopped at Payless, I was dissatisfied. They seemed to disintegrate in very short order, or they’d leave me with aching feet. I have no problem paying $100 for a pair of SAS loafers because I know they’ll last way more than 5X longer than $20 loafers from Payless.

20

I live in Chicago (the city, not a burb) and buy shoes online. I’ve gotten a couple of pairs that didn’t fit as they were too narrrow. Easy enough for me to walk across the street to the UPS store to return them. There’s a much better selection online.