But what about the Palessi locations; are those staying open?
Seriously, though, I used to mostly buy my shoes at K-mart, which had good prices and selection. I don’t know if K-mart still exists somewhere, but all the stores that used to be around here are closed, now. So I switched to Payless, which also has good prices, though not quite as much selection. And yes, there are plenty of other places to buy shoes, but at those prices?
As for folks who buy online: That’d only have even a chance of working if you already know your size. How do you learn what your size is in the first place?
Oh, and I’ve tried shoes from the expensive places, too, on the Vimes theory that they’d be worth it if they lasted longer. None of them are any better than what I got at K-mart.
Look inside the shoe you’re currently wearing and order the same size. Works for me. Worst case scenario, I walk a little funny for awhile, or wear bulky socks.
My Target and Walmart have terrible shoe departments. The Walmart is rows and rows of empty racks and the Target looks like one of the closing Paylesses threw up on it. It’s chaos. No rhyme or reason, very unlikely to find something at a reasonable price for its quality in stock in your size. I don’t have much faith in Kmart and Sears being around much longer and JCP is kind of far away. I will do the Marshalls/TJMaxx/Burlington Coat Factory thing, but they don’t keep items in stock regularly. I used to get these awesome cheap ones at Payless when they’d run out and I’d go back and get the same pair again. I get a good one at TJM and they’ll never have them again. My local Kohls is kind of a mess. Either overpriced or badly stocked and it’s tiny between the aisles and makes it unpleasant shopping.
So yeah, Payless had crappy quality, but it was what I needed a lot, especially with a kid. I don’t need expensive shoes that only last a year. This is gonna suck for me, even though I won’t be shoeless. I won’t shop online. My feet aren’t wide width, but I can’t fit into narrow width. I’m between sizes too so I can’t trust something if I can’t try it on. Plus sometimes something fits but is such a pain to get on or has some other thing you can’t tell from a picture only. I hate doing online returns.
Also, my kid’s uniform is fairly strict and Payless is one of the only places that ALWAYS had uniform compliant shoes.
Honestly not surprised. I’ve been going there for as long as they’ve been around here mostly for the wide variety of wide width shoes. Memphis has several and the one in Bartlett is just around the corner. They used to have cute shoes cheap. Now they have crappy shoes that aren’t cheap compared to the crappy shoes you can get at Walmart.
Our Goodwill always has a decent variety of new shoes still in the boxes. I don’t know how they come across them but I got some new Converse for 14 dollars a few months ago. I’m guessing they were returns, but they still had tags and the bottoms looked perfectly clean so it was a great deal to me.
These days, I buy my shoes in an honest-to-gosh shoe store. It’s a family business that has been in business for decades. They know the type of shoe I like. They keep notes on my shoe size and what I’ve purchased before (on cards! not a computer!). They take my foot size in case they are suggesting a brand of shoe I haven’t worn before, because every brand does things a bit differently.
The shoes tend to run more expensive than Famous Footwear and Payless and the like, but they fit better, are far more comfortable, and also last much, much longer. In my own small way, I’m living the reality of the Vimes Boots Theory.
Running shoes. I’m terribly fussy about these, and only wear certain models from New Balance. I’ll only buy them from running shoe / equipment stores.
Everyday walking sneakers. I buy them at the same place I buy my running shoes.
Dark slip-on casual shoes. I’ve bought these online from Land’s End for a decade. I know what model and size I wear, and if a pair doesn’t fit right (I’m on, I think, my fifth pair), I send them back.
I have a few other pairs of shoes: a pair of boots that I also bought from Land’s End, and a pair of men’s dress shoes that I was gifted from a friend (they were her father’s shoes, and happened to fit me).
How do you not know your shoe size? Do you know your pants size and your shirt size? To me, this is like basic life information. I can see it being an issue if you’re buying shoes for a growing child, whose shoe size may not be what it was the last time you bought shoes for her, but for an adult?
And, as others have already noted, sites like Zappos have commentary on whether a particular style of shoe runs big or small, and if you get them and they aren’t right, you send them back for the right size. It’s not that hard.
I don’t buy expensive shoes, other than hiking-type footwear. I’ve never noticed a difference in casual footwear whether I buy a pair from Payless, WalMart or Kohl’s. But then I don’t wear the same pair of shoes every day, all day. I have MANY pairs of shoes, sandals and boots so I might wear 3 or 4 different shoes within a week. I rarely have a pair that wears out. Usually, I just get tired of them before that happens.
I am convinced, to the core of my soul (and soles) that this is actually one of the greatest, most essential Secrets of a Long, Happy Life.
I currently have 3 pairs of shoes at least 15 years old each, (my oldest pair, some sharkskin cowboy boots were bought for me by my parents in 1985 when I was all of 14 years old) and they have each been to at least 15 different countries with me, walking strong and proud (and occassionally drunk as a Silesian molliefiddler) none of which origianlly cost more than $60 U$D…
I would seriously rather rotate between 3 pairs of cheap, Chinese sweatshop labor, dollar store reject shoes than have to wear the same $800 pair of custom fitted, handcrafted Italian orthopedic walking loafers day after day after day, no contest.
Yeah, my more expensive shoes don’t necessarily last longer without repairs than the ones I used to buy at Payless ( I’m going to scrape/wear down the heels on a pair of pumps whether they cost me $20 or $100, but I’m more likely to repair the $100 ones) but they hurt my feet a lot less. But I’m not talking about work shoes or boots and it’s not so much a matter of more expensive places vs Kmart or really even about the price - I got a pair of Cole Haan pumps for about $65 that initially retailed for about $200. They weren’t less comfortable because they were less than half the price and if I got them at Kmart for $40 they would have been just as comfortable. But I’m unlikely to find that quality at Kmart and I certainly won’t find it at Payless.
I’m surprised it took this long. I think I went to Payless 2 or 3 times in my life, and wouldn’t buy anything from there because the quality was so bad.
I’m all about cheap shoes, but I have almost always been able to find cheap shoes that were not the horrible level of quality that Payless had.
I can’t say I’ll miss them as the shoes I got from Payless were terrible quality. The heels of one pair had a honeycomb pattern rather than being solid, and were crushed very soon. Never bought another.
My favorite place for discount shoes is CostCo. Their Kirkland brand of white leather sneakers are exceptional quality.
There was a great shoe place in Kansas City that just closed - Bob Jones Shoes. 90% of their shoes were for women, but they did have a men’s department and I bought a pair of Clarkes there that have lasted years.
I went to a real shoe store. Not DSW or Payless or the shoe department in any department store. I went to a shoe store with employees who are trained to do more than get shoes from the back. Good ones will measure your feet, ask questions about your lifestyle and health, and make suggestions about brands and styles. It is very pricey, but not being in pain all day every day from bad shoes is worth the price.
I can remember going to Payless (or Shoe Show?) to get flip flops and school shoes. The flip flops were really nice to wear – very thick foam, and the thong didn’t cut into your foot – but I can remember them falling apart/wearing out quickly. The school shoes were horrific; I can vividly remember exactly where and by how much they shredded my feet.
Now I stick to a couple of different brands that I know are extremely consistent in fit; I can buy online, but more often I’ll order from a local independent store because they offer a small discount.
I can’t remember shopping at Payless as a kid. I think we went to the Thom McAn, and perhaps one of the department stores. Later, we’d get shoes at Bob’s Stores.
