Where do you buy their shoes?

I'm curious to know where you buys shoes for your children and what brand you get?
We have always been getting their shoes at stride rite and I'm starting to get a little bored with their selection.
MY twins also do not have very big feet, especially DD. She is a size 6 and DS is 7.5. They both have fairly narrow feet too.
We just bought them a pair with velcro this time. I hope it wasnt a bad idea. My son always seems to have his laces undone or they get really beat up somehow so I thought the velcro might help.

So back to my original question, where do you buy your kids shoes and do they tend to have a good selection?

 

I tend to stick with Stride Rite for most of their shoes, but I've also gotten them sneakers at Skechers. I just got them adorable sandals at Lands End from the clearance section.

 

We get a lot as hand-me-downs (SIL with very expensive taste in kids' shoes), but when I need some, I've been buying them on ebay. Neither of my kids have wide feet. Sarah does have fat feet & ankles, but I've learned to avoid ankle-height shoes or anything that doesn't open up really wide, and we do OK. You can get brand new shoes for less than 50% retail.

The only time I've bought shoes that weren't velcro was when I needed some Goretex boots for Amy and could only find them in a lace-up style. Is there something wrong with velcro?

 

I've ordered shoes from Preschoolians a couple of times. I have been happy with the shoes & they have a great selection. Plus they give parents of twins a 40% discount which makes them really reasonable.

 

We usually buy them at Payless. I am lucky if I can get my kids to even think about wearing shoes, so we dont put alot of time or effort into it.

 

Walmart or payless for us.

 

We only buy Vans. They fit the boys great, are durable, and fashionable.

Cari

 

I just posted on the Parents board about the ones I found today at Sportsmans Warehouse. I found really nice outdoor/river sandals for $15. I'll definitely be going back there for next year!!

Otherwise, it just depends. I used to get 2nd hand ones a lot, but they're getting to the age now where if you find used shoes that fit, they're usually in pretty bad shape. I don't like to get them unless they look practically new. So we kind of shop all over, since dd especially seems picky about how they feel. We've had ok luck with Payless......don't usually care for Walmart's shoes. Target is so-so. Anymore, I have to just try them on the kids & see how they like the feel of them.

 

I've never bought sneakers at Stride Rite I never really liked their shoes, one of my sons has very wide feet so we tend to stick with skater sneakers which tend to be wide anyway like Vans at Payless, Etnies at Journey Kids, DC's I bought at Famous Footwear, they just were bought a pair of Converse from a family member which fit rather nicely now that they are getting bigger. I do love Payless though especially when it is BOGO!

 

I usually buy all lilys shoes at target, payless, or walmart. I also buy both kids crocs in the summer. My son has cp so he wears braces and tennis shoes that come with them. If I have to buy him a new pair he usually gets stride rite.....they are wider and will fit his brace in them.

 

Hello! I just found the cutest website for children's shoes: pediped. The come in all colors and styles. Most seem to be slip-on or velcro though. Check it out!

Jen

 

I go to Famous Footwear or Sketchers store .. not a big fan of Wal-mart shoes .. they dont have a good selection for boys shoes.

 

T&T have very narrow feet. I have tried other shoes but the Stride Rites are the only ones I've found so far that fit -- mostly because they sell widths so medium actually means medium and in many styles, that's close enough. They offer ONE gender-neutral sneaker available in narrow (which is one more than any other manufacturer) and that's what they have right now. It's very plain (solid white) so I put fun laces in them. It's nice for them to have shoes that actually fit. We can get away with other brands of sandals that have velcro across the toe but the Stride Rite mediums work OK in other styles which hasn't been the case with other brands.

 

My girls have m-w feet and Striderites fit them best, so that is what we buy. We also like that the shoes are leather. We usually buy at the outlet since it is closer that the nearest regular store.

 

SO FAR, I have only done Stride Rite (THE SALE IS COMING APRIL 1-15!!) because I have foot problems and want to get them a good start in the foot department. I am sure that I have beat my feet up, but my DD was pronating her feet a little and I decided that I was going to get them good shoes for a while....

 

My husband refused to let me buy shos at Stride Rite. He think it is crazy to buy those "brand" name shoes. So, I've been buying shoes at Payless, Target, TJMax, Famous Footwear or at TRU.

I love those Mary Jane shoes! But I never owe one of them yet. I am keeping an eye on clearance sale. And those cute Ralph Lauren shoes too (that I've seen once in a while.

Diana w/Rianna and Justin

 

We get them at Stride Rite or the Vans store.

 

Stride Rite for us.

 

When they were smaller and not walking much, we used Preschoolians. Once they started walking/running a lot, we switched to mostly Stride Rite (get online through Amazon for the most part because it's typically cheaper there). They also have Crocs and I've gotten them some other sandals at various times (Teva's, etc). I am pretty consistent with buying them good quality shoes because I want to ensure their feet are formed well. I have inherited my mom's feet and she just had to have surgery so I'm very careful about always buying good quality for myself and I want to continue that with my children.

 

Aidan is ONLY wear Crocs in the Spring/Summer, well the Airwalk knock offs until he grows into a Crocs size. Otherwise he's got a couple pair of tennis shoes.

Hannah has been wearing Pedipeds or Robeez Tredz lately. She's gotten a little better about wearing sandals but we've just gotten those at Target.

They are both VERY particular about what kind of shoes they wear and how they feel, I honestly didn't know if I'd ever get Hannah out of the regular pedipeds and robeez.

 

We wear Crocs whenever weather permits. Shoes we have gotten the most use out of in the last year have been their Kamik rain boots from Sierra Trading Post. I LOVE these boots and they have held up to endless, daily abuse. I have had good luck with Buster Brown brand (we have fat, top to bottom, not wide feet). I also got a pair of moccasins from Land's End and those were GREAT.

As far as where to shop for shoes, we get a lot of ours at Famous Footwear. They have buy one, get 50% off sales a lot. I love that if they don't have two in the right size for the boys I can pay for them in store and they will ship them from their online store to my house for free. If they don't fit once they arrive I can take them back to the store and they'll ship a better size for free or return my money, no questions asked. Sierra Trading Post has a lot of good bargains too, if you're a bargain hunter.

Here are links to the stores I like best for shoe shoppin' for the twins:
Land's End (they have some great deals in their overstocks section, don't overlook that!)
Famous Footwear (free shipping if you pay for items in a FF store).
Sierra Trading Post (I get a lot of my own stuff here...mostly an outdoor enthusiast-type store)

 

Just ordered them sandals from Preschoolians. My boys had the same sandals last year and they held up so well I decided to order them again. I love the twin discount of 40% off!

 

QUOTE(tinalb @ Mar 30 2008, 04:11 AM) [snapback]694788[/snapback]
I've ordered shoes from Preschoolians a couple of times. I have been happy with the shoes & they have a great selection. Plus they give parents of twins a 40% discount which makes them really reasonable.

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Look out! They aren't designed for narrow feet. I went round and round with them and gave up trying for DD. It just didn't work with her little feet.

 

I love zappos.com. Free overnight shipping too.

 

QUOTE(first_second_and_last @ Apr 16 2008, 01:46 PM) [snapback]724711[/snapback]
f

Look out! They aren't designed for narrow feet. I went round and round with them and gave up trying for DD. It just didn't work with her little feet.


UGH -- second that! They told me that 95% of toddlers have wide feet and that's who they make their shoes for. That's not what their website says, of course... with their "narrow" insert that does nothing

 

As far as the Preschoolians, one of my boys has really narrow feet and I have not had a problem and my other guy has wide feet and they work for him too.